Groundwater resource management : an introduction to its scope and practice

Abstract

Groundwater resources management has to deal with balancing the exploitation of a complex resource (in terms of quantity, quality, and surface water interactions) with the increasing demands of water and land users (who can pose a threat to resource availability and quality). This note deals mainly with the quantitative, essentially resource-related, issues of groundwater management, and only touches marginally upon groundwater pollution protection. Calls for groundwater management do not usually arise until a decline in well yields or quality affects one of the stakeholder groups. If further uncontrolled pumping is allowed, a vicious circle may develop and damage to the resource as a whole may result (with serious groundwater level decline, and in some cases aquifer saline intrusion or even land subsidence). To transform this vicious circle into a virtuous circle it is essential to recognize that managing groundwater is as much about managing people (water and land users) as it is about managing water (aquifer resources). Or, in other words, that the socio-economic dimension (demand-side management) is as important as the hydro geological dimension (supply-side management) and integration of both is always required.