Ground Water Overdrafting Must be Controlled

Ground Water Overdrafting Must be Controlled PDF Author: United States. General Accounting Office
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Groundwater
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Ground Water Overdrafting Must be Controlled

Ground Water Overdrafting Must be Controlled PDF Author: United States. General Accounting Office
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Groundwater
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description


Ground Water Overdrafting Must Be Controlled

Ground Water Overdrafting Must Be Controlled PDF Author: United States Accounting Office (GAO)
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781720719151
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Ground Water Overdrafting Must Be Controlled

Ground Water Overdrafting Must be Controlled

Ground Water Overdrafting Must be Controlled PDF Author: United States. General Accounting Office
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Groundwater
Languages : en
Pages : 4

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Book Description
The demand for water in many areas of the Nation is being met by overdrafting ground water, extracting more ground water than will be replenished over a long period of time. Overdrafting is not necessarily bad; however, if it is continued indefinitely, the resulting problems may ultimately affect the Nation's ability to meet ever-increasing demands for food and other agricultural products. Therefore, GAO undertook a review of the numerous problems associated with ground water overdrafting to determine the seriousness of the overdrafting problems in States and communities that have not implemented ground water controls. In its review, GAO found that overdrafting is most serious in the arid and semiarid Western States where irrigation of crops accounts for over half of all ground water use. GAO found that several problems can result from overdrafting, such as: (1) land subsidence; (2) saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers; (3) reduced surface water flows; (4) increased energy consumption; and (5) disruption of social and economic activities. Some States, such as Colorado, New Mexico, and Florida, have generally succeeded in controlling overdraft of their underground aquifers. However, other States, such as California and Arizona, currently impose little if any control on the use of ground water; and both States suffer serious overdraft problems. Although the Federal Government only manages water resources on Federal lands, it has assisted States with overdraft problems by constructing multipurpose water development projects to replace or supplement ground water.

Valuing Ground Water

Valuing Ground Water PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309175003
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
Because water in the United State has not been traded in markets, there is no meaningful estimate of what it would cost if it were traded. But failing to establish ground water's valueâ€"for in situ uses such as sustaining wetlands as well as for extractive uses such as agricultureâ€"will lead to continued overuse and degradation of the nation's aquifers. In Valuing Ground Water an interdisciplinary committee integrates the latest economic, legal, and physical knowledge about ground water and methods for valuing this resource, making it comprehensible to decision-makers involved in Superfund cleanup efforts, local wellhead protection programs, water allocation, and other water-related management issues. Using the concept of total economic value, this volume provides a framework for calculating the economic value of ground water and evaluating tradeoffs between competing uses of it. Included are seven case studies where ground-water valuation has been or could be used in decisionmaking. The committee examines trends in ground-water management, factors that contribute to its value, and issues surrounding ground-water allocation and legal rights to its use. The book discusses economic valuation of natural resources and reviews several valuation methods. Presenting conclusions, recommendations, and research priorities, Valuing Ground Water will be of interest to those concerned about ground-water issues: policymakers, regulators, economists, attorneys, researchers, resource managers, and environmental advocates.

Groundwater Availability of the Central Valley Aquifer, California

Groundwater Availability of the Central Valley Aquifer, California PDF Author: Claudia C. Faunt
Publisher: Geological Survey
ISBN: 9781411325159
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Integrated Groundwater Management

Integrated Groundwater Management PDF Author: Anthony J Jakeman
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319235761
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 756

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Book Description
The aim of this book is to document for the first time the dimensions and requirements of effective integrated groundwater management (IGM). Groundwater management is a formidable challenge, one that remains one of humanity’s foremost priorities. It has become a largely non-renewable resource that is overexploited in many parts of the world. In the 21st century, the issue moves from how to simply obtain the water we need to how we manage it sustainably for future generations, future economies, and future ecosystems. The focus then becomes one of understanding the drivers and current state of the groundwater resource, and restoring equilibrium to at-risk aquifers. Many interrelated dimensions, however, come to bear when trying to manage groundwater effectively. An integrated approach to groundwater necessarily involves many factors beyond the aquifer itself, such as surface water, water use, water quality, and ecohydrology. Moreover, the science by itself can only define the fundamental bounds of what is possible; effective IGM must also engage the wider community of stakeholders to develop and support policy and other socioeconomic tools needed to realize effective IGM. In order to demonstrate IGM, this book covers theory and principles, embracing: 1) an overview of the dimensions and requirements of groundwater management from an international perspective; 2) the scale of groundwater issues internationally and its links with other sectors, principally energy and climate change; 3) groundwater governance with regard to principles, instruments and institutions available for IGM; 4) biophysical constraints and the capacity and role of hydroecological and hydrogeological science including water quality concerns; and 5) necessary tools including models, data infrastructures, decision support systems and the management of uncertainty. Examples of effective, and failed, IGM are given. Throughout, the importance of the socioeconomic context that connects all effective IGM is emphasized. Taken as a whole, this work relates the many facets of effective IGM, from the catchment to global perspective.

Advances in Groundwater Governance

Advances in Groundwater Governance PDF Author: Karen G. Villholth
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1351808419
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 621

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Book Description
This book addresses groundwater governance, a subject internationally recognized as crucial and topical for enhancing and safeguarding the benefits of groundwater and groundwater-dependent ecosystems to humanity, while ensuring water and food security under global change. The multiple and complex dimensions of groundwater governance are captured in 28 chapters, written by a team of leading experts from different parts of the world and with a variety of relevant professional backgrounds. The book aims to describe the state-of-the-art and latest developments regarding each of the themes addressed, paying attention to the wide variation of conditions observed around the globe. The book consists of four parts. The first part sets the stage by defining groundwater governance, exploring its emergence and evolution, framing it through a socio-ecological lens and describing groundwater policy and planning approaches. The second part discusses selected key aspects of groundwater governance. The third part zooms in on the increasingly important linkages between groundwater and other resources or sectors, and between local groundwater systems and phenomena or actions at the international or even global level. The fourth part, finally, presents a number of interesting case studies that illustrate contemporary practice in groundwater governance. In one volume, this highly accessible text not only familiarizes water professionals, decision-makers and local stakeholders with groundwater governance, but also provides them with ideas and inspiration for improving groundwater governance in their own environment.

A Manual of Laws, Regulations, and Institutions for Control of Ground Water Pollution

A Manual of Laws, Regulations, and Institutions for Control of Ground Water Pollution PDF Author: National Water Well Association. Model Law Task Force Committee
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Groundwater
Languages : en
Pages : 458

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Book Description


Global Diagnostic on Groundwater Governance

Global Diagnostic on Groundwater Governance PDF Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
ISBN: 9251092591
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
This report aims at integrating regional and country experiences and projects with regard to viable groundwater management practices for the future. It compiles and translates best available present scientific and technical knowledge on groundwater resources and their governance, which is often highly specialized, into simpler language and synoptic representations, accessible to a large public of policy and decision makers across development sectors. It serves as a technical basis for the visioning process, and for the definition of the Framework for Action on groundwater governance.This is one of 3 outputs of project GCP/GLO/277/GEF expected to be published under the names of its 5 partner organizations and widely circulated to policy and decision-makers in countries, as well as other stakeholders of groundwater governance and practionners around the world. This outputs provides the technical basis for the other two: A Global Vision for Groundwater Governance 2030 and Global Framework for Action to Achieve the Vision on Groundwater Governance.

California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act PDF Author: Tyler Hubbard
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Groundwater
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
Unlike most states west of the 100th meridian, California has, until recently, never enacted a comprehensive set of regulations to govern consumptive use of groundwater resources, even though groundwater provides between 40 percent and 60 percent of the water used by residents, farmers, business, and municipalities in the state. That changed in 2014, when the California legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in response to one of the worst droughts in the state's history. The years between 2012 and 2014 had been so dry that surface water deliveries to the major agricultural areas of the San Joaquin Valley were cut to almost zero, forcing farmers to pump groundwater at unprecedented rates to make up the shortfall. This, in turn, caused groundwater levels to drop and domestic wells to go dry. SGMA was enacted to reverse this trend and bring the state's groundwater resources into sustainability.This thesis examines whether a key feature of SGMA - its focus on local control of groundwater management decisions - will frustrate the sustainability goals of the statute. By reviewing a representative sample of the Groundwater Sustainability Plans prepared in compliance with SGMA, the thesis analyzes how the local water agencies in the San Joaquin Valley differ in their approach to groundwater management when compared to local water agencies outside the San Joaquin Valley. This analysis indicates that much of the groundwater overdraft problem in California can be traced to a recent phenomenon where large farming interests in the San Joaquin Valley switched from annual row crops to permanent orchard crops, primarily almonds and pistachios. This change in crop mix has fundamentally altered water usage in the Valley, largely because almonds and pistachios require substantially more water than annual row crops.Almonds and pistachios, however, are highly profitable, and the farmers who switched to these crops show no interest in converting back to row crops just to save water or improve conditions within their respective subbasin. For this reason, the Groundwater Sustainability Plans prepared by water agencies in the San Joaquin Valley focus almost exclusively on new water supply projects and include few provisions that would address pumping behavior or crop mix. Outside the San Joaquin Valley, however, the water agencies seem more willing to embrace a wide array of actions to achieve sustainability, including pumping restrictions and land fallowing programs. Thus, SGMA appears to create a two-tiered system, one in which San Joaquin Valley farmers can continue to pump as before, while the rest of the overdrafted basins in the state engage in aggressive cutbacks. Without greater guidance and enforcement from the State Water Resources Board and the Department of Water Resources, this two-tiered system may cause SGMA to fail in its objective, which is to bring all overdrafted subbasins, including those in the San Joaquin Valley, into a sustainable condition.