Easy to say, hard to do: integrated surface water and groundwater management in the Murray–Darling Basin

Water Policy ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 709-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Ross
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Groundwater Management ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Integrated Water Management ◽  
Aquifer Storage ◽  
Surface Water And Groundwater ◽  
Murray Darling Basin

Integrated management of surface water and groundwater can provide efficient and flexible use of water through wet and dry periods, and address the impacts of water use on other users and the environment. It can also help adaptation to climate variation and uncertainty by means of supply diversification, storage and exchange. Integrated water management is affected by surface water and groundwater resources and their connections, water use, infrastructure, governance arrangements and interactions. Although the Murray–Darling Basin is considered to be a leading example of integrated water management, surface water and groundwater resources are generally managed separately. Key reasons for this separation include the historical priority given to surface water development, the relative neglect of groundwater management, shortfalls in information about connections between groundwater and surface water and their impacts, gaps and exemptions in surface water and groundwater use entitlements and rules, coordination problems, and limited stakeholder engagement. Integration of surface water and groundwater management can be improved by the establishment of more comprehensive water use entitlements and rules, with extended carry-over periods and legislated rules for aquifer storage and recovery. Collective surface water and groundwater management offers greater efficiency and better risk management than uncoordinated individual action. There are opportunities for more effective engagement of stakeholders in planning and implementation through decentralized catchment scale organizations.

scholarly journals Global modeling of withdrawal, allocation and consumptive use of surface water and groundwater resources

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Wada ◽  
D. Wisser ◽  
M. F. P. Bierkens
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Groundwater Use ◽  
Consumptive Water Use ◽  
Surface Water And Groundwater ◽  
Terrestrial Water ◽  
Consumptive Water ◽  
Global Water

Abstract. To sustain growing food demand and increasing standard of living, global water withdrawal and consumptive water use have been increasing rapidly. To analyze the human perturbation on water resources consistently over large scales, a number of macro-scale hydrological models (MHMs) have been developed in recent decades. However, few models consider the interaction between terrestrial water fluxes, and human activities and associated water use, and even fewer models distinguish water use from surface water and groundwater resources. Here, we couple a global water demand model with a global hydrological model and dynamically simulate daily water withdrawal and consumptive water use over the period 1979–2010, using two re-analysis products: ERA-Interim and MERRA. We explicitly take into account the mutual feedback between supply and demand, and implement a newly developed water allocation scheme to distinguish surface water and groundwater use. Moreover, we include a new irrigation scheme, which works dynamically with a daily surface and soil water balance, and incorporate the newly available extensive Global Reservoir and Dams data set (GRanD). Simulated surface water and groundwater withdrawals generally show good agreement with reported national and subnational statistics. The results show a consistent increase in both surface water and groundwater use worldwide, with a more rapid increase in groundwater use since the 1990s. Human impacts on terrestrial water storage (TWS) signals are evident, altering the seasonal and interannual variability. This alteration is particularly large over heavily regulated basins such as the Colorado and the Columbia, and over the major irrigated basins such as the Mississippi, the Indus, and the Ganges. Including human water use and associated reservoir operations generally improves the correlation of simulated TWS anomalies with those of the GRACE observations.

scholarly journals Global modeling of withdrawal, allocation and consumptive use of surface water and groundwater resources

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 355-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Wada ◽  
D. Wisser ◽  
M. F. P. Bierkens
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Water Allocation ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Consumptive Water Use ◽  
Surface Water And Groundwater ◽  
Consumptive Water ◽  
Global Water

Abstract. To sustain growing food demand and increasing standard of living, global water withdrawal and consumptive water use have been increasing rapidly. To analyze the human perturbation on water resources consistently over a large scale, a number of macro-scale hydrological models (MHMs) have been developed over the recent decades. However, few models consider the feedback between water availability and water demand, and even fewer models explicitly incorporate water allocation from surface water and groundwater resources. Here, we integrate a global water demand model into a global water balance model, and simulate water withdrawal and consumptive water use over the period 1979–2010, considering water allocation from surface water and groundwater resources and explicitly taking into account feedbacks between supply and demand, using two re-analysis products: ERA-Interim and MERRA. We implement an irrigation water scheme, which works dynamically with daily surface and soil water balance, and include a newly available extensive reservoir data set. Simulated surface water and groundwater withdrawal show generally good agreement with available reported national and sub-national statistics. The results show a consistent increase in both surface water and groundwater use worldwide, but groundwater use has been increasing more rapidly than surface water use since the 1990s. Human impacts on terrestrial water storage (TWS) signals are evident, altering the seasonal and inter-annual variability. The alteration is particularly large over the heavily regulated basins such as the Colorado and the Columbia, and over the major irrigated basins such as the Mississippi, the Indus, and the Ganges. Including human water use generally improves the correlation of simulated TWS anomalies with those of the GRACE observations.

scholarly journals Contribution of decision support systems to water management improvement in basins with high evaporation in Mediterranean climates

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1020-1036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verónica Ruiz-Ortiz ◽  
Santiago García-López ◽  
Abel Solera ◽  
Javier Paredes
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Decision Support Systems ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Basin Management ◽  
Surface Water And Groundwater

Abstract The entry into force of Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 October 2000 established a new model for the management and protection of surface water and groundwater in Europe. In this sense, a thorough knowledge of the basins is an essential step in achieving this European objective. The utility of integrative decision support systems (DSS) for decision-making in complex systems and multiple objectives allows decision-makers to identify characteristics and improve water management in a basin. In this research, hydrological and water management resource models have been combined, with the assistance of the DSS AQUATOOL, with the aim of deepening the consideration of losses by evaporation of reservoirs for a better design of the basin management rules. The case study treated is an Andalusian basin of the Atlantic zone (Spain). At the same time, different management strategies are analysed based on the optimization of the available resources by means of the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater.

Analysing the effectiveness of groundwater regulation: a comparative study of Turkey and California

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammed Yasir Ak ◽  
David Benson ◽  
Karen Scott
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Groundwater Management ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Arid Zones ◽  
Groundwater Abstraction ◽  
Regulatory Requirements ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
Agricultural Use ◽  
Semi Arid

<p>Groundwater abstraction has increased significantly around the world in the last three decades, placing a strain on the sustainability of domestic and agricultural use plus negatively impacting the role groundwater plays in water storage in the absence of surface water. While the proportionality of surface water use has decreased as a result, groundwater has expanded its share of freshwater use. Groundwater management challenges are particularly acute in semi-arid zones due to low replenishment rates. Multiple regulatory innovations are consequently emerging in different countries to regulate groundwater usage but comparative analyses of their effectiveness are limited. In addressing this gap, our paper therefore compares the regulatory performance of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in Turkey with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in California, two semi-arid zones, as a basis for policy learning. Both legislative measures impose river basin planning to protect groundwater resources and should provide them with strong protection. In analysing the effectiveness of these measures, this paper firstly identifies the key regulatory requirements of each legislative framework regarding groundwater protection. Secondly, it compares the institutional arrangements for implementing them, using specific river basin case studies. Thirdly, it quantifies groundwater use trends in river basins to assess the effectiveness of the WFD and SGMA. Finally, it comparatively discusses outcomes to determine the factors influencing implementation effectiveness, in order to inform future regulatory design.</p>

scholarly journals The impact of environmental conditions on water salinity in the area of the city of Inowrocław (north-central Poland)

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Hulisz ◽  
Arkadiusz Krawiec ◽  
Sylwia Pindral ◽  
Łukasz Mendyk ◽  
Kamila Pawlikowska
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Geological Structure ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Limit Values ◽  
Surface Water And Groundwater ◽  
Zechstein Salt ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

AbstractThe article presents the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on the chemical and physical properties of surface water and groundwater in the area of the city of Inowrocław. It has been shown that the properties of the waters were most strongly affected by the specific geological structure (the city is located within the Zechstein salt dome) as well as the long-term influence of a salt mine and soda plant. The composition of most analysed samples was dominated by Ca2+, Na+and Cl−ions. In places of heavy industrial activity, some water parameters were several time higher than permissible limit values according to Polish standards. It is concluded that, due to the threat to the city’s drinking groundwater resources and fertile soils, the surface water and groundwater in the area in question require permanent monitoring.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document