Non-renewable groundwater resources: a ... - unesdoc - Unesco

GUIDELINES■ Focused administration of non-renewable groundwater, and the vital step of effective communicationwith stakeholders, will greatly benefit from the application of various key managementtools :• aquifer system characterisation and numerical modelling to facilitate adequate predictionof groundwater availability, the impact of abstraction on the aquifer itself, thirdparties (especially traditional users) and related aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, andpotential groundwater quality changes during development;• socio-economic assessment of options for mining aquifer reserves, including considerationof potential alternative uses, the value of the proposed or existing use(s) inrelation to the in-situ value of groundwater and the probable ‘exit strategy’ when aquiferreserves are depleted;• an acceptable system of measuring or estimating volumetric abstraction will be thecornerstone for both realistic charging and enforcing regulations to discourage inefficientand unproductive uses.■ The value of detailed monitoring of groundwater abstraction and use, and the aquiferwater-level and quality response to such abstraction, cannot be overemphasised. This shouldbe carried out cooperatively by the water resource administration, stakeholder associationsand individual users. The existence of time-limited permits subject to periodic review willnormally stimulate permit holders to provide regular data on wells. It will be incumbent uponthe water resources administration to make appropriate institutional arrangements– through some form of aquifer database (databank or data-center) – for the archiving, processing,interpretation and dissemination of this information.■ Many aquifers containing large reserves of non-renewable groundwater are transboundary,either in a national sense or between autonomous provinces or states within a single nation,and there will much to be mutually gained through :formation of a high-level steering group and a joint technical group;operation of joint or coordinated groundwater monitoring programmes;establishment of a common groundwater database or mechanism for information sharing;• adoption of coordinated policies for groundwater resource planning, harmonization ofrelevant legislation and regulations, and procedures for joint resource management andconflict prevention and resolution.61