Americas ok.indd - World Water Council

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324th World Water ForumWithin the context of IWRM, the challenges facingintegration and management of the coastal zone arerelatively simple when contrasted to those facinggroundwater. A valuable resource across the Americas,groundwater is increasingly playing a strategic role insupporting national development. Increasing surface waterpollution across the region means many urban centershave to rely on groundwater sources, with unreliablepublic water supply systems giving rise to increasedparticipation by the private sector. However, agricultureremains the major use of groundwater, accounting fornearly 50% of groundwater abstractions in United Statesand supporting one third of the irrigated areas in Mexico.Ensuring a comprehensive management framework thatintegrates groundwater with surface water and ensuresthat they are managed within sustainable limits remainsone of the biggest challenges throughout the region.The existence of several different, often inconsistent,policies relating to groundwater management have ledto numerous conflicts. The reallocation of groundwaterrights and restriction of water abstraction to economicallyefficient and sustainable limits have been the drivingforces behind legal and institutional reforms. In the USA,for example, the states of Arizona, California, Nebraska,and Texas have adopted various approaches to reducewater rights conflicts and ensure environmental protection(Flay & Narasimhan 2005). All these approaches differsignificantly in the degree of centralization, integrationof surface and ground waters, and the organizationof localized groundwater management districts. TheState of Arizona has created Active Management Areas(AMA) and Irrigation Non-expansion Areas as legalsubdivisions of the state, and all sources of water, surfaceand underground, are included in management plans.The AMA Boards of Directors have numerous tools toachieve water consumption goals, including legal rightprovisions, underground storage, conservation andeducation programs. Similarly, specific legislation has beenenacted in Texas establishing guidelines for comprehensivegroundwater district management plans, includingconformance with regional water plans.The problems of groundwater over-exploitation includeland subsidence, such as experienced in many areas acrossMexico, along with salinization, the result of a diversearray of processes that threaten high-quality groundwatersources. This is a specific concern in many rural areas,such as in Mendoza, Argentina. Lack of proper sanitationin many urban areas has also increased the vulnerabilityof aquifers. This is the example in some Central Americancountries where groundwater supplies also providethe main water sources for the population. In contrast,groundwater levels in the Buenos Aires area are risingdue to the increase in potable water imported from the LaPlata River and accompanying decreases in groundwateruse. However, this is causing numerous health problemsdue to the collapse of septic tanks and significanteconomic losses due to urban, industrial and commercialbasement flooding (Llop 2005).Adding to the complexity, many aquifers in theAmericas are transboundary, being shared betweenneighboring countries or federal states. According to theInventory of Transboundary Aquifers of the Americas,carried out by the ISARM regional programme 23 , thereare at least 67 transboundary aquifers in the Americanhemisphere: 27 located in South America, 19 in NorthAmerica (Canada, Mexico, USA), 12 in Central Americaand 4 in the Caribbean (the Dominican Republic – Haiti 24 ).About one third of these transboundary aquifers are inarid and semi-arid zones. From a first estimate of highrisk-features based on anthropogenic activities (IGRAC2005), 20 of these transboundary aquifers are alreadyconsidered intensively mined, while 16 located in areas ofintensive agriculture or industry show higher ratesof salinity.One of the priorities emerging from the ISARM regionalprogramme is ensuring the sustainable management oftransboundary aquifers in water-scarce regions, suchas the arid and semi-arid areas of the Americas. Thechallenges are exemplified in the case of the Gran ChacoAmericano, the largest semi-arid plain in South America.Nearly 80% of the rural population lacks access to potablewater and issues of water scarcity are compounded23The UNESCO/OAS ISARM-Americas Programme is the regional initiative for the American hemisphere of the worldwide ISARM “Internationally Shared Aquifer ResourcesManagement” Programme and is jointly coordinated by the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and the Office for Sustainable Development andEnvironment of the Organization of the American States (OSDE/OAS). Its implementation has provided a platform to promote interest for the development oftransboundary aquifer projects.24A GEF/UNEP/OAS/UNESCO project is being implemented on the Artibonite and Masacre, two transboundary aquifers located in the inter-mountainous and coastal regionsof Haiti and Dominican Republic in the Island of Hispaniola.
y recent population increases, intensification ofagricultural and industrial land use, salinization andpollution. The Yrenda-Toba-Tarijeno transboundaryaquifer system (SAYTT) covers 40% of the plains of theGran Chaco Americano across Bolivia, Argentina andParaguay. It represents a potentially valuable source ofwater 25 and the SAYTT pilot-project aims to provide acomprehensive understanding of the aquifer system, itsfunction in supporting human needs and needs to ensureenvironmental sustainability. The project will also provideguidance for management in other La Plata Basin aquifersto ensure more sustainable management mechanisms(Box 4.9).In view of the complexities involved in sustainablegroundwater use, the World Bank-Netherlands WaterPartnership Program launched the GroundwaterManagement Advisory Team (GWMATE) in support of amultinational groundwater program providing technicalassistance for specific cases. In Latin America, effortsBox 4.9 The Role of Groundwater in thePantanal EcosystemLa Plata Basin encompasses also the Pantanal, thelargest wetland in the world and a globally significantbiodiversity hot spot. Given the global relevance anduniqueness of this ecosystem, recent efforts have beenmade to ensure its sustainability. In all previous efforts;little attention has been paid to the role of groundwaterin the functioning of the Pantanal Ecosystem.Thanks to the ISARM Americas Programme, the keyrole played by groundwater in the functioning of thePantanal Wetland has been appreciated. During theCorumba Workshop (March 30, 2005), the countriesof Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay have actually agreedon a joint action on groundwater based on the commonvision “of developing a coordinated sustainablemanagement framework for the Pantanal transboundaryaquifer, based on a sound understanding of thehydraulic interrelationships with surface waters, andon the recognition of the Pantanal as a groundwaterdependent ecosystem - GDE. The ultimate goal is toensure the integrity of the ecosystem and sustain itsecological values and functions, taking into accountand adapting to the effects of climate change andvariability”.SOURCE: Miletto 2005.include the GEF funded Guaraní Aquifer Project forgroundwater sustainability and environmental protection.The project was launched with the active participation ofthe Mercosur nations of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, andUruguay. GWMATE continues to provide services withspecial reference to (i) the evaluation of regional aquiferdevelopment and management issues; (ii) the promotionof practical groundwater protection measures at the locallevel through four pilot projects for aquifer management;and (iii) the definition of an appropriate legal andinstitutional framework for efficient transboundarygroundwater management. Other GWMATE projects inthe region include: (i) analysis of actual and potentialregulatory issues relating to groundwater use in thePatiño aquifer of Gran Asunción, Paraguay; (ii) mitigationof groundwater drainage problems in the Buenos Airesconurbation; (iii) potential construction of sub-surfacedams to augment groundwater storage for humansubsistence in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil; and (iv)design of the institutional and legal frameworks for theadministration of the surface and groundwater resourcesassociated with the Quibor aquifer in Venezuela.Experiences and lessons learned thus far from acrossthe region have shown that the existence of a stable andlegally-grounded system of water rights is an importantbuilding block of plans, programs, and actions towardsrestoring the sustainability of aquifers. These experienceshave also highlighted the need for comprehensiveregulatory, participatory, and economic watermanagement instruments. Groundwater managementis appreciably more complex than the management ofsurface waters. There is often no concordance betweenbasin units and aquifers and as such management systemsmust be more comprehensive and robust, while having theflexibility to adapt to changing demands.The challenges of addressing and implementing IWRMin the region stem largely from problems arising froma lack of consensus around the definition of IWRM, itsrole in ensuring effective water management and theprocess of translating this into effective implementation.Sustainable financial mechanisms in support ofdecentralized IWRM processes are needed along with25The ISARM case-study on Yrenda-Toba-Tarijeno - SAYTT is addressed withinthe wider context of the Project “Framework for the Management of the WaterResources of the La Plata River Basin”, being carried out by the countries thatshare the basin in close coordination with the Plata Basin IntergovernmentalCommission and supported by UNEP and OAS, with financial assistance from theGEF and the Italian Ministry of Environment and Territory.334th World Water Forum
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PARTICIPANTS4th World Water Forum S
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Populaton Growth 2004 Surface Area
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WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION FOR ALL
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ANNEX 5main water-related technical
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