The role of groundwater governance in emergencies during different phases of natural disasters

The establishment of water governance in emergency situations supports timely and effective reaction with regard to the risk and impact of natural disasters on drinking-water supplies and populations. Under such governance, emergency activities of governmental authorities, rescue and aid teams, water stakeholders, local communities and individuals are coordinated with the objective to prevent and/or mitigate disaster impact on water supplies, to reduce human suffering due to drinking-water failure during and in the post-disaster period, and to manage drinking-water services in emergency situations in an equitable manner. The availability of low-vulnerability groundwater resources that have been proven safe and protected by geological features, and with long residence time, can make water-related relief and rehabilitation activities during and after an emergency more rapid and effective. Such groundwater resources have to be included in water governance and their exploration must be coordinated with overall management of drinking-water services in emergencies. This paper discusses institutional and technical capacities needed for building effective groundwater governance policy and drinking-water risk and demand management in emergencies. Disaster-risk mitigation plans are described, along with relief measures and post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction activities, which support gradual renewal of drinking-water services on the level prior to the disaster. The role of groundwater governance in emergencies differs in individual phases of disaster (preparedness, warning, impact/relief, rehabilitation). Suggested activities and actions associated with these phases are summarized and analysed, and a mode of their implementation is proposed.     

The politics of sustained yield forest management in Malaysia: Constructing the boundaries of time, control and consent

Despite its lack of success in countries across the globe, scientific or sustained yield forestry remains the dominant discourse in tropical forestry. The main concern of this paper is to provide a conceptualisation of the inherent technological difficulties in sustained yield technology. In doing so, the paper goes to the heart of the debate surrounding the construction of scientific knowledge and the nature of technological development. The examples used are from Peninsular Malaysia and the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. However, the issue of science and the politics of scientific knowledge production, as well as the contingent nature of technological development, have more general applicability. Moreover, the examples from Malaysia may be equally useful in countries that are similarly mired, in coping with the effects of forest resource ‘development’. Our contention in this paper is that sustained yield categories, such as the annual allowable cut, emerge from a whole network of assumptions and negotiations that are both social and technical. Since scientific categories are often under-determined, they are subject to contestation. The paper ends by outlining the way in which sustained yield knowledge claims are being contested by forces encapsulated under the umbrella of sustainable forest management.     

山东淄博沣水泉域岩溶水系统模拟及水源地优化开采预测

沣水泉域岩溶水系统是淄博市及周边地区最主要的供水水源,因原有大武水源地水质严重污染,急需开辟新的水源地,故须重新开展泉域岩溶水资源评价和开采规划工作。文章在充分概化研究区水文地质概念模型的基础上,借助FeFlow软件,建立了基于等效连续介质的三维非均质各向异性岩溶水模型,并利用2016年水位动态数据对模型进行识别和验证。经模型计算可知,在2000-2015年,研究区岩溶地下水日均补给量为104.47万m3/d,排泄量为80.27万m3/d,正均衡24.20万m3/d。对原大武水源地与新增刘征水源地优化开采方案预测的结果表明,最优开采方案为:（1）保持大武水源地现状35.91万m3/d开采条件下,刘征水源地最大开采量为5.5万m3/d,刘征 -大武富水地段最大可开采量为41.41万m3/d;（2）满足刘征 -大武富水地段最大开采条件,大武水源地最大可减采至33.41万m3/d,刘征最大开采量为8万m3/d。      

Groundwater socio-ecology and governance: a review of institutions and policies in selected countries

Groundwater is crucial for the livelihoods and food security of millions of people, and yet, knowledge formation in the field of groundwater has remained asymmetrical. While, scientific knowledge in the discipline (hydrology and hydrogeology) has advanced remarkably, relatively little is known about the socio-economic impacts and institutions that govern groundwater use. This paper therefore has two objectives. The first is to provide a balanced view of the plus and the down side of groundwater use, especially in agriculture. In doing so, examples are drawn from countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Spain and Mexico—all of which make very intensive use of groundwater. Second, institutions and policies that influence groundwater use are analyzed in order to understand how groundwater is governed in these countries and whether successful models of governance could be replicated elsewhere. Finally, the authors argue that there is a need for a paradigm shift in the way groundwater is presently perceived and managed—from management to governance mode. In this attempt, a number of instruments such as direct regulation, indirect policy levers, livelihood adaptation and peoples participation will have to be deployed simultaneously in a quest for better governance.

Governance of disaster emergency wells in three cities in Japan affected by earthquakes

Concern has grown regarding how public and private sectors should make effective use of local groundwater to alleviate negative impacts of water-supply cutoff following an earthquake event, which can be regarded as an emergency groundwater governance problem. Existing literature on groundwater governance, however, is based on the tacit assumption of groundwater utilization under normal social conditions, and scant consideration has been given to the role of groundwater following occurrence of a natural disaster. This study conducted questionnaire surveys to reveal how groundwater was used in three cities (Kumamoto, Sapporo, and Sendai) in Japan struck by large earthquakes between 2010 and 2020. Results revealed substantial differences between these cities in terms of groundwater utilization following earthquake occurrence. The time between the restoration of the electricity supply and restoration of the waterworks, and the social capital accumulated by local governments, are indicated as possible reasons for such differences. Analysis also identified policy challenges for improved groundwater governance in an emergency: (1) establishment of a strategy for emergency water supply through combined use of groundwater and other water sources, (2) enhancement of methods for timely inspection of groundwater quality following occurrence of a disaster, (3) maintenance of records of the number of registered disaster emergency wells (DEWs), (4) creation of methods for publicizing locational information on DEWs with adequate regard for the privacy of well owners, and (5) recognition of the importance of making DEWs part of overall disaster preparedness.

     

An innovative artificial recharge system to enhance groundwater storage in basaltic terrain: example from Maharashtra,India

The management of groundwater poses challenges in basaltic terrain as its availability is not uniform due to the absence of primary porosity. Indiscriminate excessive withdrawal from shallow as well as deep aquifers for meeting increased demand can be higher than natural recharge, causing imbalance in demand and supply and leading to a scarcity condition. An innovative artificial recharge system has been conceived and implemented to augment the groundwater sources at the villages of Saoli and Sastabad in Wardha district of Maharashtra, India. The scheme involves resectioning of a stream bed to achieve a reverse gradient, building a subsurface dam to arrest subsurface flow, and installation of recharge shafts to recharge the deeper aquifers. The paper focuses on analysis of hydrogeological parameters like porosity, specific yield and transmissivity, and on temporal groundwater status. Results indicate that after the construction of the artificial recharge system, a rise of 0.8–2.8 m was recorded in the pre- and post-monsoon groundwater levels in 12 dug wells in the study area; an increase in the yield was also noticed which solved the drinking water and irrigation problems. Spatial analysis was performed using a geographic information system to demarcate the area of influence of the recharge system due to increase in yields of the wells. The study demonstrates efficacy, technical viability and applicability of an innovative artificial recharge system constructed in an area of basaltic terrain prone to water scarcity.     

A critical overview of transboundary aquifers shared by South Africa

Transboundary groundwater commonly implies a body of groundwater intersected by a political border with the attendant potential threat of dispute over a shared resource. This definition is inadequate in many parts of southern Africa. Approximately 96% of South Africa’s borders are underlain by low-yielding aquifers and, coupled with a low demand for water attendant on low population density, the risk of over-pumping or pollution leading to dispute is low, and a modified understanding is required. Examples of transboundary aquifers are used to illustrate implications for policy and management of southern African transboundary groundwater resources, where transmissivities are low and, less commonly, where over-pumping may indeed be a problem. The general lack of technical cooperation, data sharing, training and research between the riparian states on hydrogeology hampers a mutual understanding of the resources. The concept of transboundary groundwater must necessarily include aquifers where little cross-border flow occurs, but where cross-border cooperation will help to ensure sustainable cooperative utilisation of shared aquifer resources. This is imperative if future disputes are to be averted. Agreement between scientists is a necessary precursor to broader transnational governance agreements in regard to shared water resources, and recent initiatives by the Orange-Senqu River Commission promise closer integration.     

The role of the Spanish Committee of the International Association of Hydrogeologists in the management and protection of Spain's groundwater resources

 Spain is a relatively large European country (ca. 500,000 km²) with extensive semiarid areas in which there exists a large number of good aquifers. In some areas, these aquifers are intensively developed and are the most important sources of fresh water. Nevertheless, groundwater development and protection has rarely been duly considered by the Spanish Water Administration, despite the pressure to remedy this situation by various groups of experts, some of them members of the Water Administration. The Spanish Committee of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) has been very active during the last decade in promoting activities to spread groundwater science, technology, and management in Spain and outside, mostly in Latin America, and in trying to orient water policy toward issues of groundwater. These activities include mainly the organization of technical and scientific meetings on current topics such as groundwater in the new Water Act, overexploitation, groundwater in water-resources planning, groundwater pollution, natural-recharge estimation and others. The impact of these activities on the recent water policy of Spain seems significant, and the experience gained may be applicable to other countries. Received, February 1997 · Revised, July 1997 · Accepted, July 1997     

Applicability and methodology of determining sustainable yield in groundwater systems

There is currently a need for a review of the definition and methodology of determining sustainable yield. The reasons are: (1) current definitions and concepts are ambiguous and non-physically based so cannot be used for quantitative application, (2) there is a need to eliminate varying interpretations and misinterpretations and provide a sound basis for application, (3) the notion that all groundwater systems either are or can be made to be sustainable is invalid, (4) often there are an excessive number of factors bound up in the definition that are not easily quantifiable, (5) there is often confusion between production facility optimal yield and basin sustainable yield, (6) in many semi-arid and arid environments groundwater systems cannot be sensibly developed using a sustained yield policy particularly where ecological constraints are applied. Derivation of sustainable yield using conservation of mass principles leads to expressions for basin sustainable, partial (non-sustainable) mining and total (non-sustainable) mining yields that can be readily determined using numerical modelling methods and selected on the basis of applied constraints. For some cases there has to be recognition that the groundwater resource is not renewable and its use cannot therefore be sustainable. In these cases, its destiny should be the best equitable use.

Contested H2O: Science, policy and politics in water resources management in Chile

This paper critically explores the politics that mediate the use of environmental science assessments as the basis of resource management policy. Drawing on recent literature in the political ecology tradition that has emphasised the politicised nature of the production and use of scientific knowledge in environmental management, the paper analyses a hydrological assessment in a small river basin in Chile, undertaken in response to concerns over the possible overexploitation of groundwater resources. The case study illustrates the limitations of an approach based predominantly on hydrogeological modelling to ascertain the effects of increased groundwater abstraction. In particular, it identifies the subjective ways in which the assessment was interpreted and used by the state water resources agency to underpin water allocation decisions in accordance with its own interests, and the role that a desocialised assessment played in reproducing unequal patterns of resource use and configuring uneven waterscapes. Nevertheless, as Chile’s ‘neoliberal’ political-economic framework privileges the role of science and technocracy, producing other forms of environmental knowledge to complement environmental science is likely to be contentious. In conclusion, the paper considers the potential of mobilising the concept of the hydrosocial cycle to further critically engage with environmental science.     

Unfolding scientific expertise and security in the changing governance of Ecosystem Services

Within the past few decades, the idea of global Ecosystem Services (ES) has moved center stage in environmental and sustainability debates. The academic and policy discourse behind Ecosystem Service protection appears to have changed from a more ecological focus on habitat restoration to a predominantly economic one revolving around human well-being. The aim of this paper is to unfold the coupling between scientific expertise and security in the changing governance of ES. We employ a ‘securitization’ lens to advance our understanding of the recent change in the governance of ecosystems, as we reflect on the role of scientific expertise at the boundary between science and security. Empirically, we analyze how scientific experts, as securitizing actors, frame the degradation and loss of ES as an existential threat to human security thereby justifying measures to reverse these trends. In order to trace how the voices of scientific experts shape policies to govern ES we apply bibliometric analysis and an opinion-based survey to first identify who produces the scientific knowledge published, and then follow how key scientific experts link to policy-making arenas and use security framings. Lastly, we discuss the implications of the shifting discourse surrounding ES, and we reflect on our own positionality and approach, as we string together our findings to contribute to the debate about environmental expertise and governance, and the authority of scientific knowledge.     

Below the radar: the boom of groundwater use in the central part of the Nile Delta in Egypt

The Nile Delta of Egypt is known for its large irrigated area supplied with water diverted from the Nile River, with a limited use of groundwater, largely for domestic and industrial use. Official statistics for the whole delta indicate that there are a few thousand individual wells used for agriculture by a population of over 2 million farmers. This study, however, shows that a phenomenon of groundwater development for irrigation has been unfolding over the last few years, largely below the radar of managers and researchers. A survey was carried out in the central part of the delta with the objective of (1) uncovering the actual situation of groundwater use in this part of the delta and (2) speculating on its implications. The results of the survey pointed to a recent and booming tube-well drilling industry, with well densities in some parts reaching one well every 2 ha. The development of groundwater abstraction in the central delta is strongly linked to inadequate and/or untimely availability of surface water in the canals. A technical, economic, and management characterization of wells complements the study, showing a continuum between purely private/individual ownership of wells and collective investments and management. Lastly, the article explores the implications of unchecked abstraction at the farm, local and delta scales.     

Interpreting sustainable yield of an aquifer using a fuzzy framework

Reliable estimates for how much water can be safely withdrawn from aquifers without harming the environment is crucial for identifying new water supply sources and fostering sustainable growth. Methodologies to estimate groundwater availability that are rooted in science and yet accomplishable with minimal data are particularly useful for effectual aquifer management. Also, as groundwater management is increasingly becoming a participatory process, these methodologies must be transparent and easily understood by a wide range of audiences. In addition, proposed approaches must also reconcile imprecision and uncertainties arising from lack of data, differences in stakeholders’ perceptions and limitations associated with incomplete aquifer characterization. In this study, the fundamental concept of water balance is coupled with fuzzy regression to develop a scheme for assessing regional-scale groundwater availability. Using the mass-balance approach, anthropogenic water demands (municipal, industrial and agricultural) and ecological demands (baseflows to rivers) can be incorporated into the availability estimation process. The use of fuzzy regression enables the specification of decision makers’ preferences to the adopted procedure and renders the parameter estimation to be more robust in the presence of extreme values. The methodology is illustrated by using it to estimate groundwater availability in the Gulf coast aquifer, underlying Refugio County, TX, USA.     

地下水资源科学管理与地面沉降系统控制——中国科学院院士薛禹群接受本刊专访

2010年12月23日,本刊编委、上海市地质调查研究院副总工程师李勤奋教授,本刊编委、上海市地质调查研究院副总工程师王寒梅高级工程师,本刊编辑部主任、上海市地质调查研究院总工程师办公室副主任龚士良教授,专程赴南京拜访了中国科学院院士、南京大学薛禹群教授,并围绕地下水资源管理与地面沉降控制作了专题访谈。     

River-basin planning and management: The social life of a concept

The concept of a river basin as a management or planning unit has gone through several stages and is in a state of flux. From its western “discovery” in the 18th century to its advent as the overriding concept behind European water policy, the river basin has been conjured up and mobilized in evolving contexts with varying intentions. Associated with utopian ideas of the late 19th century, it supported ideas of full control of the hydrologic regime and multipurpose dam construction in the 1930-1960 period, then partly faded and was revived to address water-quality problems, before reemerging in the 1990s as the cornerstone of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), enriched and blended with watershed- and ecosystem-management approaches.This article recounts the evolution of the concept of a river basin and how it has been associated with various strands of thinking and sometimes co-opted or mobilized by particular social groups or organizations to strengthen the legitimacy of their agendas. Beyond its relevance as a geographical unit for water resources development and management purposes, the river basin is also a political and ideological construct, with its discursive representations and justifications, closely linked with shifting scalar configurations, both ecological and in terms of regulatory regime or governance. How interconnected and nested waterscapes can be managed by discontinuous nested political/administrative and social levels remains a fundamental question fuelling an endless search for elusive governance systems that would unite nature and society.     

Groundwater overexploitation: why is the red flag waved? Case study on the Kairouan plain aquifer (central Tunisia)

In many parts of the world, groundwater users regularly face serious resource-depletion threat. At the same time, “groundwater overexploitation” is massively cited when discussing groundwater management problems. A kind of standard definition tends to relegate groundwater overexploitation only as a matter of inputs and outputs. However, a thorough state-of-the-art analysis shows that groundwater overexploitation is not only a matter of hydrogeology but also a qualification of exploitation based on political, social, technical, economic or environmental criteria. Thus, an aquifer with no threat to groundwater storage can rightly be considered as overexploited because of many other prejudicial aspects. So, why is groundwater overexploitation so frequently only associated with resource-depletion threat and so rarely related to other prejudicial aspects? In that case, what really lies behind the use of the overexploitation concept? The case of the Kairouan plain aquifer in central Tunisia was used to analyze the way that the overexploitation message emerges in a given context, how groundwater-use stakeholders (farmers, management agencies and scientists) each qualify the problem in their own way, and how they see themselves with regard to the concept of overexploitation. The analysis shows that focusing messages on overexploitation conceals the problems encountered by the various stakeholders: difficulties accessing water, problems for the authorities in controlling the territory and individual practices, and complications for scientists when qualifying hydrological situations. The solutions put forward to manage overexploitation are at odds with the problems that arise locally, triggering tensions and leading to misunderstandings between the parties involved.     

中国地下水污染修复方法和技术应用展望

[研究目的]:中国地下水污染调查和修复日益受到科学界的重视,了解和掌握地下水污染修复方法和技术有助于对污染场地进行科学修复.[研究方法]:本文在系统分析国内外地下水污染修复案例的基础上,对中国地下水污染修复现场实施的技术方法进行总结.[研究结果]:结合中国区域经济发展特征和地下水污染调查评价成果认为,复杂的水文地质条件...     

数值模型在黑河干流中游水资源管理中的应用

以黑河干流中游水资源管理为例,利用地下水数值模型研究了天然和人工活动作用下泉水、地下水向地表水排泄量的变化规律;预测分析了不同情景下的水资源开发利用状况.研究表明,地下水向河-泉的排泄量呈衰减趋势,且地下水的增采量和渠系防渗节约的水量主要来源于地下水储存量的消耗;指出在目前有限的水资源条件下,为保护生态地质环境,必须限制地下水的持续超采.     

Aquifer porosity in the Pan-African semi-arid context

Water scarcity is one of the major concerns that people are facing worldwide. Although the liquid is absolutely abundant through the globe, its availability poses too much problems specifically to each region. Those problems can result in one or a combination of three basic situations: declining water (drought), overabundance of surface water (floods) or degradation of the quality of water (pollution). All these situations are reflected in the scarcity of good quality water. Arid regions are particularly concerned. In such areas where groundwater contained in aquifers is usually perceived as providence, any project of groundwater exploration and exploitation must be preceded by prior careful and meticulous investigation, in order to avoid early and premature drying. This investigation is likely to predict the future behaviour of aquifers and to improve the groundwater resources management. Beside fundamental properties as hydraulic conductivity, the present paper that addresses the water sector in the semi-arid region of northern Cameroon emphasizes the importance of porosity on aquifer productivity and consequently on the groundwater resources management. The porosity of the local aquifer has then been determined using the Waxman and Smits model which establishes a reliable relationship between the apparent and corrected formation factors, F _a and F _c , taking the clay effects into consideration. This approach can be applied in other similar semi-arid regions through the world.     

Water table fluctuation analyses and associated empirical approach to predict spatial distribution of water table at Yeşilköy/AgiosAndronikos aquifer

The groundwater of the deep Ye?ilköy aquifer is the only water resource for agricultural and domestic consumption at the Karpaz Peninsula of Cyprus, which stretches approximately 100 km from the northeast of capital Nicosia to the northern tip of Cyprus. During the last decade, over-pumping and following dry periods have depleted the groundwater resources and the water surface elevation of the aquifer has dropped. The aim of this study is to understand the behavior of the Ye?ilköy aquifer in the last decade for the proper management of groundwater resources. This has been achieved based on well survey and field survey studies, monitoring programs followed by pumping tests, and safe yield analysis. Most of the research effort has been focused on field and well survey studies to quantify agricultural water consumption and abstraction rates from the aquifer. A long-term groundwater level monitoring program, short-term continuous groundwater monitoring and pumping tests provided information for the regression analyses while deriving a sixth order polynomial relationship between the period parameter and the head parameter. The equation was helpful to predict the short-term behavior of the water level when the present hydrogeological conditions prevail. The pumping test results satisfied the hydraulic properties of calcarenite formation yielding T = 1,782 m²/day and S = 0.0012. The results of safe yield analysis show that the annual deficit of the aquifer is 0.496 million cubic meters (MCM), which is equivalent to a 0.6 m drop in groundwater levels per year. Finally, the resultant annual safe yield of the aquifer is estimated as 0.84 MCM.