Groundwater Management Practices

The monograph presents and compares practices followed in different countries for the development, protection and management of groundwater resources. It includes overviews of groundwater management practices and selected case studies in different countries; reviews of specific technical issues such as groundwater quality management and protection, groundwater impacts of underground structures and hazards of artificial recharge and discharge; discussions of regulatory and legal issues affecting groundwater management.

Groundwater is an indispensable resource in many parts of the world, where it supports domestic water supply, irrigated agriculture and industry. Its increased, and often intensive, use during the last half century has created problems and raised concerns regarding the potential depletion of local aquifers, water quality degradation and various geologic hazards such as land subsidence and sinkholes. This volume includes contributions by experts from several countries who describe different groundwater management practices in their part of the world and discuss measures and actions in response to the challenges associated with the sustainability of groundwater use and the protection of the groundwater environment, as well as the evolution of legal and institutional framework needed for their implementation. It discusses past and present practices and various aspects of the regulatory and legal framework of groundwater management in Japan, China, India, Iran, Australia, the United States, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland and the European Union, and reviews recent efforts to improve the management of transboundary aquifer resources.