Ending groundwater overdraft in hydrologic-economic systems |
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Authors: | Julien J Harou Jay R Lund |
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Institution: | (1) University College London Environment Institute and Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, University College London, Gower Str., London, WC1E 6BT, UK;(2) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California - Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA |
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Abstract: | Groundwater overdraft occurs when extraction exceeds both natural and induced aquifer recharge over long periods. While ultimately
unsustainable and invariably having detrimental effects, overdrafting aquifers is common and may be temporarily beneficial
within a long-term water management strategy. Once a region chooses to end overdrafting, water management must change if increased
water scarcity is to be avoided. Integrated water-management models allow aquifers and overdraft to be analyzed as part of
a regional water-supply system. Incorporating economics into the model establishes a framework for evaluating the costs and
effects of groundwater management actions on the entire system. This economic-engineering approach is applied in a case study
of the Tulare Basin in California, USA, where previous economic studies showed optimal pumping depths have been reached. A
hydro-economic optimization model is used to study the economic effects and water management actions that accompany ending
overdraft. Results show that when overdraft is prohibited, groundwater banking using conjunctive-use infrastructure built
between 1990 and 2005 largely annuls the cost of not overdrafting. The integrated economic-engineering approach quantifies
effects of groundwater policies on complex regional water-resource systems and suggests promising strategies for reducing
the economic costs of ending aquifer overexploitation. |
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