Suchergebnisse

An interactive decision support program is presented for the rapid modification of optimal regional multiobjective groundwater planning strategies. This capability is important for water managers seeking to select the most satisfactory groundwater management strategies for their areas. The program guides decision maker(s) in refining numerically optimal regional strategies into strategies that may be socially or politically more acceptable. Strategy refinements are made by informed modification of constraining conditions on regional objectives or local variables. Application is illustrated by. modifying a bi criterion, sustained groundwater Withdrawal strategy for minimizing the cost of meeting regional water demand on the Arkansas Grand Prairie, an important irrigated area. The strategy was developed using a model in which the finite difference form of the two-dimensional groundwater flow equation is embedded in an optimization process. Results from the formal optimization process are submitted to the interactive program for evaluation and modification. This algorithm applies the constraint method and constrained derivatives to develop noninferior solutions and tradeoff functions and to determine the influence on the regional objectives caused by repeated changes in several local decision variables. Although its application is demonstrated with only a single optimization model. the interactive program can be utilized to modify optimal strategies resulting from other models as well.

Lao People's Democratic Republic is a poorly developed, surface water-rich country that has traditionally given limited priority to its groundwater resources, which has resulted in a situation of inadequate scientific knowledge, technical capacity, and policies within the sector. This is slowly changing as the role of groundwater in socioeconomic development is better recognized. This chapter presents an overview of the country's groundwater resources. It examines the state of knowledge, challenges, gaps, and barriers for effective groundwater resource development. It also reviews the scope and degree of success of recent efforts to enhance groundwater governance. Finally, it presents a concise outlook for groundwater governance, including policy, capacity development, and research perspectives.

ABSTRACTAbout ONE THIRD of the population of the UK depends on groundwater, which is pumped mainly from the Cretaceous Chalk limestone and the Permo‐Trias Bunter Sandstone, for their domestic supply. The recharge areas of both aquifers correspond broadly with areas of high population density and substantial industrial activity. The disposal of solid and liquid wastes which are generated by this large population has caused local contamination of groundwater, and there is evidence of trace concentrations of a large range of man‐made organic substances in public supplies. Although total prevention of groundwater pollution is not feasible, it is increasingly evident that groundwater resources and quality management must involve improved waste‐disposal management. This paper reviews the main threats, the ways in which the hazards and the resources should be monitored, and legislative changes which are desirable. The problems in the interpretation of data and the models used for prediction are also discussed.

Groundwater depletion is arguably one of humanity's greatest sustainability challenges of the 21st century. WithSustainable Development Goals only a decade away, water authorities around the world are in the urgent need forconcrete and targeted measures to ensure that communities adhere to groundwater management policies as rapidlyand as effectively as possible. In this paper, we combine computational social science, groundwater modelling andempirical data from the World Values Survey to generate future ensembles of hydro-social trajectories underalternative courses of management and social action or inaction. Our simulations shed new light on the role thatcultural values can play in shaping the societal trajectories and norms that emerge when resources are either allocatedor not sufficiently allocated to monitor compliance, issue fines, engage community leaders, and deter rule-breakers.This study presents a new approach to explore and evaluate the capacity of existing and future management actionsto steer groundwater systems towards sustainable trajectories, to forecast the celerity and timing of socialtransformations at the inter-decadal scale, and to help nations identify the most pertinent management options underinstitutional, political, social, and/or cultural constraints. The methods presented here are broadly applicable to supportstrategic decisions that rely on the monitoring, enforcement, and compliance of environmental regulations.

This paper examines the legislative history of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and various options for implementing it. The authors argue that markets may not always be the appropriate approach.

AbstractFresh surface water is increasingly becoming scarcer worldwide, leading to significant groundwater over-extraction. However, groundwater over-extraction could result in many environmental externalities including various land subsidence (LS) effects. LS causes the gradual reduction of the voids and the subsequent ground surface sinking. The loss of aquifer system storage capacity, owing to LS, is one such negative externality that is seldom discussed in the economic literature. In this paper, we investigate the indirect loss of the aquifer system storage capacity due to LS along with other direct LS negative externalities. We develop a dynamic economic optimization model for groundwater utilization and evaluate various policy instruments (quota systems, taxes on land sinking and aquifer storage loss, and packaging and sequencing of taxes and quotas) to prevent overexploitation externalities. The model is calibrated to South African data. We found that taxes on land sinking and aquifer system storage capacity reduction have a significant effect on withdrawals and water table levels. Taxes provide larger social welfare. In addition, under certain circumstances, quotas are preferable when it comes to supporting groundwater conservation practices. Packaging and sequencing provide the second largest social benefits.

Worldwide, groundwater aquifers are under stress. Conflicts abound.The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports this to be true in the United States as well. For decades, American state governments facing the problem have attempted through legislation4 and administrative action5 to reduce the rate of depletion of groundwater aquifers. Some areas in Kansas have been closed down completely to the issuance of new groundwater pumping permits. The judiciary has been active as well. A court or administrative agency may force reduced pumping by some pumpers in a defined aquifer in an attempt to slow down groundwater mining. Or, a court may order a single well owner to reduce or curtail pumping altogether because of impairment of another well. This article treats various methods in which this problem is being addressed in the United States and the ways they have evolved over the last few decades. Water professionals commonly call the general approach to the problem "groundwater management." Some dictionary definitions of "manage" include the following: "handle or address with a degree of skill" and "treat with care,"' "control . .something,"" "succeed in accomplishing,' and "control the use or exploitation of."' Any person's answer to the question of whether any of these various methods are working "may depend . in part on the person's background, biases, perspective, and perhaps even present employment.'

The Center for Environmental Policy and Behavior and the Department of Water Resources organized a conference to connect researchers and practitioners working on the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in California. The conference was held on February 6th, 2018 at the University of California Davis and assembled 55 social science researchers as well as practitioners from in and out of the state.