Groundwater
legal and policy perspectives : proceedings of a World Bank seminar
Bibliographic details
Additional authors
Salman, Salman M. A. World Bank.
Summary
The structure of this Report follows closely the design and format of the seminar on "Groundwater: legal and policy perspective" held in Washington on April 19, 1999. Like the seminar, the Report consist of an introduction and four separate, but inter related parts, each with a separate set of chapters. The Introduction includes the keynote address delivered at the seminar. The Introduction argues that water crises is likely to result, not from physical scarcitities, but rather from two other reasons: quality deterioration and lack of investments in the water sector as a whole, including groundwater. The Introduction also highlights the linkages between groundwater and energy, and the need to ensure proper recharge of groundwater. The first part of the Report deals with understanding groundwater. Chapter 1 explains some basic technical aspects of groundwater and discusses how groundwater is insufficiently understood, irrationally explioted, and inadequately protected. The chapter highlights some essential concepts for groundwater regulators. Chapter 2 deals with groundwater and socieuty and describes how the perception and treatment of groundwater as a private resource has thwarted the attempts to exercise a measure of equity and control over obstration and protection of groundwater. The chapter underscores the importance of engagement of users to encourage sustainable use of the resource. The second part deals with the regulations, and traces the move from private ownership of the resource to the current practice where most governments exercise a wide range of regulatory athority. The chapter discusses some issues, options and best practices associated with such regulation. Chapter 4 deals with institutional and legal issues relevant to implementation of water markets and explains how groundwater markets are used in different parts of the world today, both as a tool for efficiency, and for improving access to the resource. the chapter discusses how groundwater marketing without appropriate knowledge and management of the aquifer could prove unsustainable. The third part deals with the World Bank experience with groundwater. Chapter 5 dissusses the objective and components of the Bank-financed Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation - Water Supply Project. The chapter underscores the importance of considering all aspects of groundwater quality in the enviornmental impact assessment of developkment projects that impinge upon groundwater. chapter 6 deals with groundwater resources management in Jordan, and discusses some policy and regulatory issues. The chapter explains the sources and uses of groundwater and the challenges that scarcity poses on the management in Jordan, and discusses some policy and regulatory issues. The chapter explains the sources and uses of groundwater and the challenges that scarcity poses on the management of groundwater, including the issue of cost recovery. Chapter 7 deals with legal and instititional issues related to groundwater management in Mexico, and summarizes the aquifer stabilization study conducted for some of the over exploited aquifer. The chapter empahsizes the importance of users involvment, water rights and water markets and traiff. Chapter 8 discusses the World Bank expeience with groundwater irrigation in Nepal and highlights some major issues htat arose in some of the Bank financed projects there. Similar to Mexico, those issues include lack of farmers involvement and ownership in groundwater development. Chapter 9 describes the groundwater situation in Yemen and the World Bank involvement there. The chapter stresses the urgent need for a regulatory and legal framework for water resources in Yemen; a need which is typical of many developing countries. The fourth part deals with international groundwater law. Chapter 10 describes the evolution and context of the legal principles that govern the use and protection of shared groundwater resources, including a discussion of what constitutes international groundwater. The chapter discusses the sources of such principles and concludes that international groundwater law is still in the embryonic stage. Chapter 11 deals with international groundwater and the the World Bank policy for projects invovling transoundary groundwater. After similarly tracing the legal principles for shared aquifers, the chapter analyzes the World Bank practice in the few cases involving such shared aquifers. The chapter underscores the need for the policy to incorporate the practice as enunciated in the few projects involving transboundary groundwater. Chapter 12 highlights principles of international enviornmental law that may be relevant to transboundary groundwater, particularly those incorporated inthe Rio Declaration andthe concept of sustainable development. The chapter discusses how the application of the precautionary modalities could be extended to transboundary groundwater.