Urban groundwater use policy : balancing the benefits and risks in developing nations

Abstract

This overview provides a strategic assessment of trends in the public and private use of groundwater for urban water-supply in developing cities - and an analysis of its benefits to users and the broader community, its risks in terms of compromising resource sustainability and of public-health hazard arising from urban pollution, and its implications as regards water utility investments. It is based primarily upon GW-MATE field experience from World Bank-supported projects, especially in Brazil and India, and more widely in Latin America and Asia, together with preliminary information from a number of African cities. This experience is synthesized to identify key policy issues, and to define appropriate policy responses and institutional approaches for more rational and secure resource use.