Governing Unseen-Waters I by Pankti Sanganee

GOVERNING UNSEEN-WATERS

INDEX i) A call to Action Excerpts from cities across the world, batteling groundwater issues ii) Foreword and Introduction Why this compilation and goal of this project iii) What is Groundwater? Groundwater de-valued / definitions iv) Representation,Perception and Risk Narrative and representation examples of how groundwater is beyond boundaries and unconfined

“it matters what matters we use to think other matters with; it matters what stories we tell to tell other stories with; it matters what knots knot knots, what thoughts think thoughts, what descriptions describe descriptions; what ties tie ties. It matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories.” — Donna Haraway

v) Representing groundwater - Policy and management strategy — Groundwater flooding (United Kingdom) — Groundwater extraction (Jordan) — Groundwater economy (Yemen) — Groundwater and land stability (Beijing) — Groundwater and Architecture (Boston) vi) Representing groundwater - Graphics — Map or a plan — The buffers and radius — Creating boundaries — Sections and diagrams, — Hatches and Aerial images as an alternative — Graphs and trade charts — Axons and layering as an alternative vii) Discussion and Interviews Questions, Concerns and Experiences

COVER

STORY

COVER

Mexico City, Mexico

Karachi, Pakistan

Annual population growth: 1.5% Source: Surface and groundwater Crisis: The city extracts three times more groundwater than it can recharge. The overexploitation of groundwater is causing land subsidence, making the city prone to flooding. The supply infrastructure is very poor, with 40% distribution loss

STORY

Kabul, Afghanistan

Annual population growth: 5% Source: Surface and groundwater Crisis: Huge influx of rural population to urban. The pipe lines are “Textover it 40 is years withold,spacing 5 and Arial ‘yield a usable with 25 per cent distribution leakage. Over 50% of the population in the city lives in informal slums, which are not — Groundwaterfoundation.org connected to the piped supply. Wastewater from slums seeps and contaminates shallow aquifers

quantity’ of

Annual population growth: 0.2 million Source: Groundwater Crisis: 68% of Kabul residents don't have access to water.”. piped water and just 10% have access to potable water. Over-extraction of groundwater has reduced the water table

NORTH AMERICA EUROPE A S

Istanbul, Turkey Annual population growth: 1.3% Sources: 10 dams in the Marmara and the Black Sea regions and groundwater Crisis: By 2020, the demand supply gap will reach 607 million m3 per year. The decline in the water table due to unsustainable extraction is as much as 150 m in some areas and has led to salt water intrusion in coastal areas

Global

SINKS

SOUTH AMERICA

Annual population growth: 3% Source: Dams, springs, aquifers. Crisis: A water deficit of 0.2 million cubic metres per day. Only 50% of households are connected to a distribution system, where leakage loss is 50%. Waterbodies are highly polluted due to dumping of raw sewage

Sao Paulo, Brazil Annual population growth: 1% Sources: Six reservoirs Crisis: The city loses 30% of its treated supply to leaks. The two main rivers are heavily polluted and rainforest destruction has reduced precipitation

Annual population growth: 1% Sources: La Plata river, groundwater Crisis: Over-extraction of groundwater near the sea has led to saltwater intrusion, making groundwater non-potable. Only 5.8% sewage treated, rest discharged in the city's waterbodies

Image Courtesy - Down to Earth - ‘At least 200 cities are fast running out of water,16-31 Saturday 46 DOWN TO EARTH MARCH 2018 31 March 2018’ 40-50Cover Story.indd 46-47

Bengaluru, India

Sanaa, Yemen Buenos Aires, Argentina

200 water-stressed cities of the world

AFRICA

Nairobi, Kenya

Ten metropolitan cities of the world that are on the verge of an imminent water crisis Number of months in which water scarcity is >100% 0 4-5 10-11 1 6-7 12 2-3 8-9 No data

Beijing, China Annual population growth: 3.9% Sources: Mainly groundwater Crisis: In 2012, its water use was over 3.6 billion m3, against the available 2.1 billion m3. The available water per person is only about 3% of the world's average. Due to over-extraction of groundwater the city has been sinking

Annual population growth: 7% Source: Mainly groundwater Crisis: The city has to dig to 200-300 m in search of water and has dug into the fossil aquifer, which, estimates say, will be over in a decade. Less than 50% of the population receives piped water and leakage loss is 60% 16-31 MARCH 2018

Annual population growth: 3.5% Source: Cauvery, Arkavathy rivers, groundwater Crisis: Rivers and groundwater are the main sources. The total number of extraction wells has shot up from 5,000 to 0.45 million in the past 30 years. The water table has shrunk from 10-12 metre (m) to about 76-91 m in just two decades. Recharge of groundwater is minimal due to unplanned urbanisation. The city only uses half of its treatment capacity to treat the waste and as a result a substantial amount of waste is dumped in the waterbodies

AUSTRALIA

Prepared by DTE/CSE Data Centre Infographics: Raj Kumar Singh; Analysis: Sushmita Sengupta Source: The United Nations World Water Development Report 2017; Martina Florke et al, 2018, Water competition between cities and agriculture driven by climate change and urban growth, Nature Sustainability

www.downtoearth.org.in 47

19/03/18 5:12 PM

call to action ...land stability

Groundwater flooding in the UK: February 2014 Article courtesy of British Geological Survey | February 17, 2014 | Shared as educational material

Beijing has fallen: China’s capital sinking by 11cm a year, satellite study warns — Guardian JUNE 23, 2016

groundwater flooding in united kingdom

pumping of groundwater blamed for causing soil to collapse

Groundwater levels in some regions of the United Kingdom are currently at record highs. This has resulted in ongoing groundwater flooding, particularly in the south and south-west of the UK. This flooding is located on the Chalk outcrop and also on the floodplain gravels associated with the region’s major rivers. Although groundwater levels, and the incidences of groundwater flooding, will decrease in the floodplain gravels once the rivers return to more normal flows, due to the nature of groundwater movement in the Chalk aquifer, groundwater flooding may persist in some areas for weeks or months ahead. There was groundwater flooding in locations where highly permeable deposits are in contact with major rivers. Here the water table is close to the ground surface throughout the year, but when rivers are in flood, water flows quickly from the river into the floodplain sediments causing the water table to rise away from the area affected by river overbanking, potentially flooding basements and low lying property and infrastructure. This type of groundwater flooding occurs within days of river flooding but equally flood waters can recede during a similar period of time once river flows return to near normal rates.

Pumping of groundwater blamed for causing soil to collapse as development roars ahead above, with railways among infrastructure at risk, say scientists. China’s capital is known for its horrendous smog and occasional sandstorms. Yet one of its major environmental threats lies underground: Beijing is sinking. Excessive pumping of groundwater is causing the geology under the city to collapse, according to a new study using satellite imagery that reveals parts of Beijing – particularly its central business district – are subsiding each year by as much as 11 centimeters, or more than four inches. Beijing sits in a dry plain where groundwater has accumulated over millennial. As wells are drilled and the water table drops, the underlying soil compacts, much like a dried-out sponge. The study finds that the entire city is sinking but the subsidence is most pronounced in Beijing Chaoyang district, which has boomed since 1990 with skyscrapers, ring roads and other development. The researchers say the uneven nature of the subsidence in some areas poses risks to buildings and other infrastructure. There are some rules but the enforcement is doubtful,” said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs in Beijing.

call to action ...oil extraction

Oil Boom in Southern New Mexico Ignites Groundwater Feud With Texas

Fracking or food: A water-heavy way to extract shale could threaten crop growth in parts of India

July 16, 2018

JULY 12, 2018

survial questions — water or oil ?

fracking or food?

Drilling new water wells is strictly regulated in New Mexico, causing hardship for an oil industry that needs water for fracking. So groundwater is being piped across the state line from Texas, prompting worry over the shared aquifer. In the vast, high desert of southeastern New Mexico, underground aquifers are a vital source of water for drinking and agriculture. Groundwater has also become essential to a booming oil business, which is sprawling across the border from Texas and needs the water for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) operations. But because of differences in state law, oil companies have found the groundwater harder to access in New Mexico. So they are laying pipes across the state line, pumping groundwater in Texas to serve oil wells in New Mexico. Unfortunately, all the groundwater comes from the same aquifer – the Pecos Valley Aquifer – that straddles the state line. And some officials in New Mexico fear that groundwater pumping on the Texas side will eventually deplete the aquifer on the New Mexico side.State law in New Mexico creates a priority water rights system for groundwater. This means older wells have priority access to groundwater.

Shale oil or gas extraction by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) could intensify pressure on water resources in some of the shale reservoirs in India that are located in water-stressed and groundwater-depleted areas, according to a global study that analysed the impact of shale oil and gas extraction on water resources. Although it is of strategic importance for India to tap into alternative/ unconventional energy sources like shale gas to meet its rapidly growing demand for energy, exploration and production of shale oil/gas is also faught with risks, experts said. This is especially so in already groundwater-depleted areas such as the Cambay Shale Formation. The controversial drilling procedure (fracking) relies on pumping water laced with sand and chemicals at high pressure into shale deposits deep underground to create fractures in the rocks, unleashing the gas/oil. In stressed areas, where water is consumed at greater rates than local renewable water availability, the extraction of shale oil and gas is expected to compete with irrigated food production and other human water demands. “Pressure on water resources in India is already high and in some regions unsustainable.

call to action ...polluted groundwaters

India’s Silicon Valley faces man-made water crisi Chemical contamination of the public water supply

call to action ...polluted groundwaters

Cancer clusters:The hunt for a killer Chemical contamination of the public water supply

india’s silicon valley faces man-made water crisis

complaint filed on toxic pollution in woburn

Every day more than 1,000 water tankers rumble past Nagraj’s small plywood store in Bengaluru, throwing up clouds of dust as they rush their valuable cargo to homes and offices in India’s drought-stricken tech hub. ”There is a severe scarcity of water here,” said Nagraj, 30, who moved to the suburban neighbourhood of Panathur a decade ago and has seen it transformed by rampant construction. “The future will be very difficult. It is impossible to imagine how they will find water, how they will live. Even if we dig 1,500 feet (450 metres) down, we are not getting water.” Once known as India’s garden city for its lush green parks, Bengaluru was built around a series of lakes created to form rainwater reservoirs and prevent the precious resource from draining away. Many have now been concreted over to build apartment blocks with names like Dream Acres and Strawberry Fields to house the workers who have flocked here during India’s outsourcing boom.Many of those that remain are heavily polluted. Bellandur lake has become so toxic it spontaneously catches fire, and emits clouds of white froth so large authorities have had to build barriers to keep it from spilling onto the road.

In 1973 three-and-a-half-year-old Jimmy Anderson was diagnosed with leukemia. His mother Anne suspected her son’s illness was caused by contaminated drinking water in their hometown of Woburn. After Jimmy and seven other children died and many others fell seriously ill, tests proved that the water in two public wells was, in fact, seriously polluted with toxic chemicals from industrial waste. The safety of Woburn’s drinking water had long been a contentious issue. The town, 12 miles northwest of Boston, had been home to industry for over 150 years. Tanneries used toxic compounds to cure leather, and other factories sent what one reporter called “a toxic brew” down the local Aberjona River. In the 1950s, when rapid development caused a chronic shortage of drinking water, town officials began to consider drilling public wells. But a 1958 engineering study concluded that that the ground water was so polluted that well water would not be safe to drink.Despite that warning, in the early 1960s the town went ahead and drilled two new wells — identified as Wells G and H — on the east bank of the Aberjona. When state investigators tested Wells G and H, they found that they were contaminated with TCE (tetrachloroethylene — a suspected carcinogen) and other industrial byproducts.

call to action ...over extraction

World-class drinking water threatened by deeper quarrying - New Zealand JANUARY 25, 2016

Day Zero deffered, But Cape Town’s water crisis is far from over By David McKenzie and Brent Swalss, CNN Update 7:28 AM ET, Fri March 9, 2018

resource consent to excavate into the groundwater table

how long can day zero be differed

Christchurch’s world-class drinking water be at risk if quarries are allowed to dig deeper into the ground, an expert hydro-geologist says. A group comprising 10 Christchurch quarries, calling themselves the Canterbury Aggregate Producers Group, have applied for resource consent to excavate into the groundwater table. Current rules require they remain one metre above the highest groundwater level. Helen Rutter, a senior groundwater hydrologist, said quarrying closer to the aquifers would come with risks. “When you’re going close to the water table, there’s always an issue with potential contamination,” she said. “As long as you’re above the groundwater, and you’ve got a spill, you can clean it up quickly. If you’ve got groundwater inundating the base of the quarry, then that can be an issue, because things can get straight into it.” Any contaminants present in backfill could leach into the groundwater, she said. In most cases, the quantity of groundwater would dilute any contamination, but the risk increased with the number of quarries proposing to dig deeper. “If you’ve got one quarry that’s got fill with contaminants in it, then it will get diluted. If you’ve got a whole load of them . . . every time you add another one, it has a cumulative effect.”

Cape Town, South Africa (CNN)The warnings begin even before you arrive. “Cape Town is suffering through an extreme water crisis,” the pilot explains on approach, imploring tourists and travelers to save water. Hotel televisions blare out messages to guests: “90 second showers only!” Washroom taps are shut in restaurants and bars, and “If it is yellow, let it mellow” signs are plastered across bathroom stalls. Giant borehole-drilling rigs and water tankers fight through the city’s notorious traffic. For months, Cape Town, a city of four million people, has been facing the doomsday scenario of the taps running dry. While Cape Town is the first major city to face such a water crisis, it is unlikely to be the last. “The situation in Cape Town is almost a foretaste of what is likely to come in cities worldwide,” said Jasper Knight, a geographer and climate expert at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Drought crises in California, Brazil and Spain all suggest a future where water will be scarce. As urban populations increase, water resources are becoming strained.

call to action ...war and water

Sanaa could the be the world’s first capital city to “run out of water” as groundwater reserves simply dry up.

Israel’s water worries return after four years of drought ENVIRONMENT OCTOBER 23,2017 / 8:25 AM

MARCH 13, 2017

yemen — to fracture along sectarian and regional lines

israel’s water worries return

In early January last year, a series of explosions heavily damaged a water desalination plant near the Yemeni port city of Al-Mokha. In a single act, more than a million people in nearby Taiz were cut off from their only reliable water source. Long a precious commodity, the impacts of climate change are making water even more scarce in Yemen, fanning the flames of violent conflict. While the United Nations warns of climate-driven wars as a danger of the future, in Yemen they are already a deadly reality. Meanwhile, the country began to open up to global trade, resulting in an introduction to a cash economy. Farmers switched from sustenance farming to cash crops, many of which use comparatively large amounts of water. Production of a stimulant drug called qat soared, which used up even more water, at the cost of food for the average Yemeni. Year after year, an unsustainable amount of water was taken from the country’s aquifers. Wells got deeper, water became harder to come by, and prices rose. At the same time, the impacts of climate change only exacerbated the drought. Similar to the situation in Syria, as water and food became more scarce, populations were uprooted and violence ensued.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - It was a source of national pride - technology and discipline besting a crippling lack of water. But four years of drought have overtaxed Israel’s unmatched array of desalination and wastewater treatment plants, choking its most fertile regions and catching the government off-guard. The Sea of Galilee, technically a lake near the border with Syria, is forecast to hit its lowest level ever before winter rains come, despite the fact that pumping there was massively reduced. Underground aquifers, the other main freshwater source, are nearing levels that will turn them salty. In the Middle East, one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change, water is also the subject of wider tensions. Intense pressure on already scarce water resources could lead to an increase in migration and the risk of conflict, the World Bank has warned. Syria and Jordan depend on some of the same water sources as Israel, which as added to tensions in the past. Palestinians have long complained of inadequate access to water, which is mostly under Israeli control in the occupied West Bank. Israel has said it has supplied more water than required under interim peace deals.

FOREWORD More important than anything is the process of discovery, understanding and synthesizing the behavior and value of groundwater and how our perception/misperception regarding this resource has generated risk of our existence. Personal interviews conducted with professionals from varying disciplines that participate in impacting groundwater, widened the scope of understanding groundwater as a challenge on multiple horizons. talking to people - comparing that against very dry nature of academic papers and learning of how it works in the field enriched the research, pushed the research from just scientific process to a critique on how Groundwater resource issues have been responded through multiple lenses. These interviews and interactions presented to us realistic scenarios that may be different from how theoretical policies and academic teachings preach them to be. For e.g. how some of the policies and graphics may seem to be representing the whole story but they leave out a large amount of information and ends up painting a part picture creating misperception. They have open up other avenues and insights to apply different lenses to look into this issue. — data gathered by reviewing papers, news, reports, design competition entries and design methodologies published by different institutions and organizations interested in groundwater. Understanding the goal of every organization to produce the report and perform the research, as in many cases reports produced by government organizations advocating its policy and lacked a critical eye to the proposal which was then found in many academic and community papers and literature. An underlying biasness was found in every report accessed where the views and arguments shifted based on the goal of the researcher. Inspired by projects like projects of ‘Cartographic Grounds’ by Jil Desimini and Charles Waldheim and the ‘Water Index’ by Seth McDowell, this project is not an end unto themselves, but the catalogs of different representations done by cities and design strategies to deal with groundwater, illustrate beginnings to activate a representation inquiry, assembled to ignite design processes and perception of our valuable resources.

INTRODUCTION The standing of this project is to explicitly highlight how we perceive and define groundwater in design and groundwater governance strategies mainly through the lenses of ‘representation’. The project uncovers how risky behaviors are fueled by problematic conceptualization and representations. I define ‘representation’ as data and the scientific process that describes how the anthropogenic landscape impacts groundwater levels and flow. It is often a communication tool for large audiences, informing not only their internal decisions but those of others in public and community meetings. These representations eventually manifest their true influence in the decision-making process for policies and designs at parcel, street, neighborhood and regional scales. In these pressing times of climate change, where the ‘war for oil’ has shifted to ‘war for water,’ these representations in words and drawings communicate how we perceive groundwater’s value, behavior, and relevance. Representation is the translation of research processes and our understanding of the subject ,both of which are necessarily shaped by our valuation of groundwater’s importance. It informs thoughts and thoughts shape reality. And so, it is disturbing that in the time of the “war for water” that groundwater’s omnipresence and its attendant role in our lives is overly abstracted and far distant from the public consciousness. It is unapproachable and unattainable. However, there is good reason for this. Groundwater is, in many ways, quite literally invisible. Add to this hurdle, the fact that discerning its location, connections, and health requires a level of investment that has not yet manifested. If accurately representing groundwater and its vital role in civilization depends on investment then how do we make the case for investment? We must all take the graphical and linguistic leap in our professions to attempt representation, even if it requires further refinement. Whether it is in policy or design, drawings or writing, we must take responsibility for the message behind our representations and the power they have to shape the world for e.g - how practitioners in architecture, real estate, engineering and governement respond to groundwater will have a systemic impact of how all other proffesionas and participant percieve and respind to it. This project in a form of a catalog tries to be an un-biased collective by presenting both sides of the coin by highlighting the strength and weakness of governance and strategies proposed to manage groundwater issues. These are attempts at groundwater governance, some more successful than others. With this groundwork laid, it is my aim to show the origins and consequences of government representations of groundwater in order to begin the conversation of where we might go next.

This the catalog is divided into two main parts - Representing groundwater through ‘groundwater governance’ and representing groundwater through ‘graphics’. While representing groundwater through the lens of policies and governance, I have selected distinct geographic regions across the world like Yemen, Jordan, Beijing, Britain, Boston as case studies. The analysis draws on country level experience in implementing global approaches to groundwater governance. It is a paradox to see how groundwater has been the most important resource for their development and yet it was the most neglected one. They are now impacted by dropping levels, land subsidence, flooding, polluted wells, insufficient water for irrigation and drinking resulting into economic discrepancies across borders and resulting into civil and political wars. While representing groundwater through graphics used in design, I have selected few basic ways groundwater has been drawn like plans, section, map, diagrams and how it’s value can otherwise be represented in economic production charts, graphs, and bore well logs. I have also suggested an alternative way to better tell the story and express the complex relationship of the unseen water through — Axons, layering of plans, aerial images and hatches that can highlight properties of groundwater like wetness, dryness, porosity and land gradation .

what is groundwater?

embedded, implicit and hidden

“Groundwater is the water found underground in the cracks and spaces in soil, sand and rock. It is stored in and moves slowly through geologic formations of soil, sand and rocks called aquifers. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can ‘yield a usable quantity’ of water.’ — Groundwaterfoundation.org

‘Yield a usable quantity’ of water.’ - What or how much is the usable quantity? Is it usable for the human use of drinking, irrigation or fracturing? Dose the usable quantity inclusive enough to accommodate the requirement for the functioning of ecosystem - plants, marshes,wetlands, water cycle, maintaining stream levels and recharge and discharge points in the river and lakes?

“Some water underlies the Earth’s surface almost everywhere, beneath hills, mountains, plains, and deserts. ‘It is not always accessible, or fresh enough for use without treatment, and it’s sometimes difficult to locate or to measure and describe’. This water may occur close to the land surface, as in a marsh, or it may lie many hundreds of feet below the surface, as in some arid areas of the West. Water at very shallow depths might be just a few hours old; at moderate depth, it may be 100 years old; and at great depth or after having flowed long distances from places of entry, water may be several thousands of years old”. — USGS,Groundwater Science

‘difficult to locate or to measure and describe’- In the age of technology and geo sensing there are multiple ways to detect, measure and identify groundwater presence and levels. From age old physical bore well methods to pressure transducers to data loggers groundwater level measurement can be automated. High tech Proton Magnetic Resonance System can detect presence of groundwater without minimal damage to the site. Many times bore wells are dug to find the level of bedrock for construction stability. The same bore well could give the information of ground water level and different soil layering that can be logged for different sits and then synthesized to understand the subterranean make of the region which can be then used for resiliency planning. Data regarding groundwater can also be found from sand and gravel companies that mine the aquifer bed.

“Groundwater is a part of the water cycle. Some part of the precipitation that lands on the ground surface infiltrates into the subsurface. The part that continues downward through the soil until it reaches rock material that is saturated is groundwater recharge. Water in the saturated groundwater system moves slowly and may eventually discharge into streams, lakes, and oceans. Natural discharge often occurs at springs and seeps, and can form oases or wetlands”. — USGS,Groundwater Science “Groundwater is often cheaper, more convenient and ‘less vulnerable to pollution’ than surface water. Therefore, it is commonly used for public water supplies”. — National Geographic Almanac of Geography, 2005 “Groundwater can transport contaminates in the direction of the topography from recharge areas to discharge areas. Soils that are porous and permeable tend to transmit water and certain types of contaminants with relative ease to an aquifer below.— EPA, Groundwater Contamination

‘less vulnerable to pollution’ - Groundwater pollution due to anthropogenic activities is one of the major environmental problems in urban and industrial areas. The seven hydro-geological factors [Depth to water table (D), net recharge (R), aquifer media (A), soil media (S), topography or slope (T), impact of vadose zone (I) and hydraulic Conductivity(C)] for generating the groundwater vulnerability to pollution map. Just as ground water generally moves slowly, so do contaminants in ground water. Because of this slow movement, contaminants tend to remain concentrated in the form of a plume that flows along the same path as the groundwater. Depending on its physical, chemical, and biological properties, a contaminant that has been released into the environment may move within an aquifer in the same manner that ground water moves. ‘direction of the topography’ - many situations the groundwater flow may not follow topography. Physical hydrology model ParFlow study shows that there is a non-linear relationship between surficial topography and groundwater flow. The volatile flow of groundwater is also defined by surficial geology and climate, that defines recharge and discharge points that govern it’s seasonal flow.

perception, representation and risk Perception - A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. Perception based decision is a decision based on either selectively interpreting what is seen on the basis of the priority interest, background, experience, and attitudes or based on something seeming to be more reasonable or by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity. It is the first acceptable solution encountered rather than the optimal one in time of crisis or calamity. This may not ensure the best decision. Many times existing culture, social and political norms govern the perception of a situation or an issue at hand, which then govern the focus area of the problem and the depth of analysis thus impacting the decision made. Perception of ground as a black box and the ignorance of its complexity has triggered many behaviors of urban living that have now caused irreparable damages to the elements that are buried deep down below the ground but impact the whole ecosystem and put to question our survival above ground. Representation - of the environmental crisis of groundwater and its geographic network is overly abstracted and seems to be far distanced from our daily life, something unapproachable and an unattainable. The understanding of its complex hydrological network and its seen unseen relationship is critical to be represented as a policy,design, data and drawing. The way it is perceived and represents highlights our focus and grasp on the issue. It shows how we value the behavior of groundwater and its existence. This drawing depicts a plume of contamination which is impacting groundwater. — From the Department of Agriculture’s Conservation and Forestry website. A contamination plume (shown in red) originates at a source in the sand and gravel deposit. This source could be a landfill, a leaking fuel storage tank, or an accidental spill. The driven well near the stream is not contaminated, but is at risk since the plume is flowing in that direction. The dug well on the hillside, however, is not affected because it is upgradient of the source, hence the contaminated ground water flows away from this well. It depicts how plumes of contamination, beneath the ground and away from our eyesight, can contaminate the groundwater throughout the world. As we perceive ground to be a uniform ‘black box’ and ignore its complexity, we generate a perception of safety which then eventually catches us off-guard with a risk of contamination that was invisible and continuously flowing beaneth our feet without our notice.

Risk -When this representation is layered with perception - perception to only prioritize part of the landscape that seem to be addressing the whole generates risk. Behavioral risk. Risk of contamination, risk of draought, risk of land subsidence, risk of flooding and collapsing the ecosystem. Thus it is very important to question of how we represent the resource in our action of governance that shape the landscape and determine our future. How we understand it’s embedded behavior when we represent it in graphs, diagrams, data charts, flood mappings, well head protections areas, protection boundaries, and sections. A through evaluation of how we represent the unseen water shall help us counter the ineffectual planning that has been a resultant of continuous perception.

Great Britain Boston

Jordan

China

REPRESENTATION policy and governance Yemen

representing groundwater in groundwater governance

LEGEND WELL LOCATION ZONE 1 ZONE 2

! !

ZONE 3

Pennsylvanian - A calculated fixed radius method is used to determine Wwell head protection areas. The capture zone which by default is a ½ mile radius around the source. — Pennsylvaniadistrictmaps.org

Groundwater governance can be explained as “the overarching framework of groundwater use laws, regulations, and customs, as well as the processes of engaging the public sector, the private sector, and civil society”,( B. Megdal, Sharon & Gerlak, Andrea & Varady, Robert & Huang, Ling Yee -2014), the role and influence of institutions is the principal pillar upon which governance rests. The institutional setting of a nation’s or a region’s groundwater sector comprises the governmental, nongovernmental, and private sector agencies, organizations, and decision-making and managerial practices. Groundwater Management Policies are formed through intense negotiations and arguments developed by all the different stake holders impacted by it. Concerns might include budgetary issues, personal or political constraints, or the protection of certain existing programs. Policies are therefore formed far more by the act of bargaining than by any other means. “Policy is a tool which makes administration easier. At its most basic, policy is a course or principle of action, adopted or proposed by a government, party, business or individual. The term is used in many different ways, varying from institution to institution, organization to organization and sometimes within institutions and organizations as well. It can be hard to pin down, but there are some central features common to all good policy: it states matters of principle, it is focused on action, stating what is to be done and by whom, it is an authoritative statement, made by a person or body with power to do so.” (‘The textbook policy process and implementation research’, by Robert t. Nakamura) “Usually created in response to issues brought before decision makers, these policies come in the form of laws and regulations. They are based on strategies formed by government that help meet basic societal needs and obligations; decide how communities, states or nations manage resources; and keep general order in society.” (‘An Introduction to the Public Policy-Making Cycle’, Parkpoint University) I have categorized groundwater governance into five categorize to simply understand how groundwater is managed in the Jordan, Yemen, Britain, China and Boston. The overarching skeletal structure supporting groundwater governance is government. Government, and its constituent parts, responds to issues at hand by applying the tools of the trade: zoning, permitting, mapping and infrastructure investment. These tools often play out well but just as often fail to be fully implemented or miss the mark they were aiming for. It appears that the likelihood of a tool’s success depends on the controlling government entity’s values and priorities as well as the degree of cooperation and coordination among different departments, institutions, and organizations. Value judgments tend to be based on immediate economic benefits and degree of public visibility (i.e. large infrastructure developments receive more approval than other ecosystem development projects.) Zoning - a tool to define a regulatory boundary over an area that is sitting on a highly vulnerable groundwater source like that of a well head or a public supply well area. When a region is divided into different zones based on their sub surficial geology or development type or availability of resources like that in case of China - South plain and North plain and in case of Britain where boroughs were divided based on catchment areas.

categories of governance Permit- for groundwater governance permit is an essential way to regulate: Drilling of new wells, urban development and water extraction impacting groundwater levels, land uses and behavior deteriorating the quality of water. It is generally better implementable in regions where groundwater is accounted as a public resource and not a private ownership. Mapping- a method to record spatial change in groundwater levels and behavior when impacted through urbanization and agriculture boom within a certain region as well as monitor the impact of climate change on it. Aquifer yield maps and groundwater vulnerability maps provide a guiding light to planners and developers to gauge the availability of the resource and how we can plan our future accordingly. Water Transfer- Infrastructure investment to control the natural resource through mechanical and technological systems. This category is about governance through thinking of groundwater as a physical, transferable and controllable object that can be transfered spatially to balance and mitigate climate change as well as the historical damage done by urbanization and policies. Water transfer is also perceived as a very tangible tool compared to mapping, policies and zoning that can be leveraged for large financial gains as well as quick results of mitigation. Importance/Value - this is a summarizing category. It helps evaluate how different cities, towns, and countries across the world have valued groundwater historically, socially, culturally, politically and economically. This category represents how regions have sometimes valued or ignored groundwater resource and how that has played out in it’s governance (policies, prioritizing it’s funding as wells as while working with different governing departments that impact groundwater) Thees tools help me to make a comparative analysis among these different regions based on how these tools have played out in their governance as these regions try to combat different situation and issues with respect to groundwater resource management. You will see in the case studies to follow, groundwater policies and strategies have shaped cities and left a historic imprint that is reflected on the state of their resources today. Groundwater management policies that are inclusive of the geographical understanding along with scientific field work have a more positive impact on the urban growth and development. These policies are more closer to achieving their sustainable resource management goals compared to policies implemented based on short term positive impact and profit making development.

A fruitful dialogue is needed between strategies formulated by governance and the industries it shall impacts as they inform each other, and will dictate the success of the policy implemented. A justified representation and interpretation of a policy is needed for its positive impact. It is how the professions interpret and play with the policy that determines it success and failure. The goal of the policy should be clear — ‘focus on managing groundwater’, in all its statements and representations as they get transformed into actions. A well designed environmental policy and implementation strategy can act as a catalyst to achieve goals in protecting it’s resources and creatively developing urban growth adaptive to the issue at hand rather than excluding it from its agenda and treating it as an extraterritoriality.

jordan - amman Agents and their Responsibility Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation The Water Authority Jordan (WAJ): WAJ is a financially and administratively autonomous body, established in 1988 under the Water Authority Law No.18, with the full responsibility of carrying out water and wastewater projects in Jordan.

case study jordan over extraction

The Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) responsible for the socio-economic development of the Jordan Rift Valley (north and south of the Dead Sea), including water resources development, management, distribution of irrigation water, land reclamation and development, tourism development and environmental improvement and protection.

Support Private company and Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ), USGS, German Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR)

Issues - issue - over extraction, aquifers beyond reach, ill managed, salinity and poor water quality, insufficient recharge and illegal wells drilling. Management of Groundwater is critical due to increase in population (refugees) and in crease in demand but decrease in supply due to over extraction from the Aquifers. Loose water governance in the form of lax enforcement of rules and regulation and lack of equity and transparency has resulted in continuous mining of renewable groundwater resources, with extraction currently 50% over the safe yields, increasing water salinity, declining water table levels and increasing pumping costs. (—IWMI project publication – “Groundwater governance in the Arab World – Taking Stock and addressing the challenges”) Main water source for drinking and irrigation - Groundwater Climate - Low rainfall

case study jordan - over extraction

groundwater governance Zoning—”Immediate protection of well/spring against direct pollution sized at about 1 dunum (i.e. 1,000 m2) around each water source (spring, well). Within this area no activities will be allowed other than those needed for water abstraction. For public supplies, WAJ will acquire the land and fence it. As for private supplies a similar area should be protected Zone I -Springs: 50 m upstream, 15 m lateral, 10 m downstream Wells: 25 m upstream 15 m lateral and downstream — Fenced off; access only for personnel of water works and management and control agency (government purchases property) Zone II - 50 days line; but: maximum of 2 km in upstream and 50–150 m in downstream directions in karst areas: areas classified as highly and very highly vulnerable (groundwater vulnerability map); but: maximum of 2 km in upstream and 50–150 m in downstream directions — Protection against bacteriological pollution. This zone is based on a 50-day travel time, or maximum 2 km upstream of a well or spring. Allowed activities within this zone are distinguished according to the development status: On newly developed land; residential use with sewers or acceptable cesspit, and/or organic farming. While allowed activities on already developed land are residential uses provided that they get connected to the sewerage system in addition to organic farming. Other activities have to implement Best Management Practices Activities in Zone II will be intensively monitored. Zone III - Protection of the entire catchment area. The allowed activities in this zone are still under discussion. For the acceptance of groundwater protection areas, it is necessary that the regulations and restrictions for the protection of groundwater are similar within and outside the groundwater protection areas.” (—Table 4 Zoning scheme for groundwater protection zones in Jordan (Margane et al. 2006) Critique— Strength - It is an essential strategy to manage groundwater from being polluted by defining zoning boundaries and prioritization areas. Weakness - As a result there are some gaps that need to be filled in like it also needs to monitor salt intrusion and chemical seepage into groundwater occurred by small scale industries and other land-uses. Permits- “The Ministry of Water and Irrigation, (MWI) is in charge of groundwater administration and management in addition to its responsibilities in providing municipal water supplies to all population centers in Jordan, and the collection and treatment of their wastewater. MWI receives application for drilling licenses and abstraction permits, and issues such licenses and permits in accordance with the effective groundwater legislation. MWI also supervises the drilling, the abstraction, and makes arrangements for the lease of land and use of groundwater for agricultural purposes in remote arid areas. Water meters installed on groundwater wells shall be read on quarterly basis to make sure that abstraction from the wells do not exceed their allocations, specified in the permits.” (—Groundwater Sustainability Policy 2016)

Critique— Strength - permits are a good tool to control and monitor the usage of groundwater and this can be a precursor to the groundwater value strategy. Weakness - As for now as per the permit - referenced in Zoning policy, only new development needs to seek permits and in 2007 tariff was set in the regulation for water abstracted over and above the permitted annual abstraction rate (WAJ 2007). As the policy is still in talks and yet to be implemented (2016 rule book), it needs to be monitored closely and its performance and impacts on groundwater levels are to be evaluated after implemented. Importance/Value - “The sustainable annual groundwater extraction rates for the different groundwater basins are set in Jordan. Groundwater extraction rates within the given limits are recommended for a sustainable groundwater management (NWMP 2003). One of the main objectives for the future is the reduction of groundwater extraction to the level of safe yield to guarantee a sustainable use of the scarce groundwater resources in Jordan. Table 3 in the proposal show significant reduction of groundwater extraction that can be achieved by the year 2020. If this goal is not achieved, irreparable damages of groundwater will occur, leading to a further reduction. Therefore, legal and financial measures have to be implemented to gradually reduce groundwater withdrawals to the safe yield of aquifers. This may be achieved through planned use of fossil groundwater for municipal and industrial uses. The policy viewed wastewater as a strategic water resource that should be used in an environmentally sound manner. Industries will be encouraged to recycle part of their wastewater and to treat the rest to acceptable standards. Brackish water was considered to have the highest potential, among non-conventional resources, to augment the country’s water resources. It can be used directly or after desalination. (Sustainable annual groundwater abstraction rates for the different groundwater basins in Jordan (NWMP 2003) In 2002, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a new pricing policy on irrigation water—even on amounts already granted in existing licenses—with a block tariff system, where charges increase in relation to the amounts of water extracted. Details of the block tariff are: extractions from one single well of less than 150,000 m3 remain free of charge; extractions of 150,000 to 200,000 m3 will be charged at the rate of US$0.036/m3; and extractions over 200,000 m3 will be charged at US$0.09/m3.” (—5,Groundwater Management Strategy in Jordan - MWI 2001) Critique— Strength - Adding the right economic value to water extraction with respect to the quantity of consumption done by varying industries, helps exercise control over groundwater volume consumed. The government too would get some fun source out of it that can be offsetted in the services it provides. Weakness - The price mechanism is doing little to restrain demand. Farmers receive limited signals from the incentive structure about saving water. Many farmers are small users and do not pay water fees because their consumption falls within the quota of

case study jordan - over extraction

groundwater governance 150,000 m3/year per well. These farmers represent the majority of well owners (72 percent of the wells in the Amman-Zarqa and Yarmouk basins) so the price of water is having little impact on extraction. One possibility that has been raised is to scale down the quota to 100,000 m3 /year per well, which would bring down the proportion of non-paying farmers to 53 percent. For larger farmers, the current price of irrigation water does not seem to be a limiting factor, except those growing on the most marginal land. Venot and Molle (2008) argue that prices are unlikely to enable regulation of groundwater extraction and significant reduction will only be achieved through policies that reduce the number of wells in use, such as buying out of wells. Mapping- “Vulnerability map development - A program of mapping the intrinsic groundwater vulnerability in Jordan has been initiated within a framework of a Technical Corporation project between the Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) and the federal Institute of Geo Science and natural resources (BGR) in Germany. In Jordan, this methodology has been applied to study groundwater vulnerability and hazards to groundwater in the Irbid area, i.e. from the Yarmouk River in the North to the area of Ajlun and Jerash. The maps prepared are meant to provide planners with the tools for preliminary selection of priority areas for different forms of land use. Conducted in only two areas due to understanding of hazardous land use : for groundwater vulnerability assessment in carbonate (karst) region and presence of the largest solid waste disposal site that affects the major groundwater basin in Jordan.” (—Mapping of Groundwater Vulnerability and Hazards to Groundwater in Irbid Area, N Jordan,1999) Critique — Strength - Vulnerability mapping shall is process in data gathering and data analysis that shall eventually empower the region to gauge its future development and sustainability with respect to its dependency on groundwater consumption. Weakness- vulnerability mapping should be initiated for all basins as they reflect the condition of the larger ecosystem and how future decisions and plans may impact the region. it is essential as it shall forcast and also prevent from future development disasters and help Jordan prepare for climate change in due time. Water Transfer - They have multiple privately and public wells as an infrastructure to draw in groundwater. No other type of infrastructure like dams and regional infrastructure projects have been a part of their strategies yet. Governance Structure - “The Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI) is the official body responsible for the overall monitoring of the water sector, water supply and wastewater system and the related projects, planning and management, the formulation of national water strategies and policies, research and development, information systems and procurement

of financial resources. Its role also includes the provision of centralized water-related data, standardization and consolidation of data. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation embraces the two most important entities dealing with water in Jordan: The Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ): in charge of water & sewage systems. The Jordan Valley Authority (JVA): responsible for the socio-economic development of the Jordan Rift Valley, including water development and distribution of irrigation. This relative position with respect to WAJ & JVA reinforces MWI’s leading role as Jordan’s lead entity on water issues. Also has a Technical Corporation project between the Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) and the federal Institute of Geo Science and natural resources (BGR) in Germany.“ (— Ministry of Water and Irrigrtion-www.mwi.gov) Critique — Strength - One large federal organization that overlooks large scheme of water works with uniform goals in mind. Weakness- As we see in ‘groundwater value’ strategy, there is differences in interest and goals between ministry of water management and local agriculture management strategy. For better efficiency of groundwater policy, it needs to be coordinated with other industries that are using the groundwater and work out a comprehensive economic policy that shall benefit them both. Further sub-organizations within the larger framework may be helpful to execute the policy and reinforce the rule at a provincial scale as well as understand the needs of local farmers. It is important to look into the interests of their constituencies. For example, reforms that will have significant impacts on agriculture must first be sold to farmers. The common arguments that attribute failure to implement a policy reform agenda solely to a lack of political will ignore the essential requirement of building constituencies of popular support.

Source i)El-Naqa, A. & Al-Shayeb, A. Water Resour Manage (2009) 23: 2379. https://doi-org.ezproxy.neu.edu/10.1007/s11269-008-9386-x ii) This is an IWMI project publication – “Groundwater governance in the Arab World – Taking Stock and addressing the challenges” by Emad Al-Karablieh , Amer Salman iii) Participatory groundwater management in Jordan: Development and analysis of options by Mohamed Chebaane author Hazim El-Naser Jim Fitch Amal Hijazi Amer Jabbarin iv) IWMI project publication – “Groundwater governance in the Arab World – Taking Stock and addressing the challenges”

yemen Agents and their Responsibility

The Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) oversees formulating water policies in Yemen. In the field of water supply and sanitation it is supported by a Technical Secretariat (TS) for Water Sector Reform. Four agencies report to the Ministry:

case study yemen water economy

The National Water Resources Authority (NWRA) has the mission to manage the nation’s water resources on a sustainable basis, to ensure satisfaction of basic water needs by all but especially by the poor, and to establish a system of water allocation that is fair, yet flexible for meeting varying needs of economically and demographically dynamic sectors.

National Water and Sewerage Authority (NWSA) for urban water supply General Authority for Rural Water Supply (GARWSP) for rural water supply Support Local Cooperatives and Associations that manage water wells at the community levels Issues - Yemen is one of the driest countries in the world in relation to its population and groundwater represents 70 percent of the total water withdrawal of the country (FAO 2009). Year after year, an unsustainable amount of water was taken from the country’s aquifers. Wells got deeper, water became harder to come by, and prices rose. At the same time, the impacts of climate change only exacerbated the drought. Similar to the situation in Syria, as water and food became more scarce, populations were uprooted and violence ensued. Until the 1970s, water use in Yemen was sustainable. Agriculture used water resources that are rainfall dependent and hence, while the country was exceptionally water-short, an approximate annual balance between renewable supply and utilization was maintained. This changed dramatically with the arrival of tube well technology that allowed exploitation of water from deep aquifers. Exploitation of this resource is not ‘naturally’ constrained by annual rainfall, and by now use in many areas is unsustainable. Main water source for drinking and irrigation - Groundwater Climate - Low rainfall

case study yemen - water economy

Vegetation and agriculture map of Yemen

Land Degradation map of Yemen Schematic Hydrology Plan of Yemen Image Source - Hydrogeological map of Yemen (figure 6.1 of “The Water Resources of Yemen”)

groundwater governance Zoning — “Yemen does not have any strict policy regarding zoning, protection boundaries or well head protraction strategy to safe guard their groundwater. It is mainly due to very less landholding by the government and wells are mainly privately owned. Limiting the number of new wells that can be dug in a particular zone, imposing minimum spacing requirement, licensing well digging, banning extraction of groundwater for irrigation in particular areas when the water table falls below a prespecified level, etc. However, the problem with such control procedures is that of enforcement. The high „monitoring cost‟ and „inefficient bureaucracy‟ restrain to institute a system of centralized control on groundwater extraction rate. In addition, these controls often have distributional implications. Spacing regulations create and strengthen the monopoly power of existing owners of water extraction mechanisms protecting them from competition from other suppliers and keeping water prices higher than would otherwise be the case.” .” (—3.2.1 Direct Regulation, Review of Yemen’s Control of Groundwater Extraction Regime: Situation and Options) CritiqueStrength – Establishing a minimum spacing and prohibition to new wells in certain water stressed areas is a good first step to manage groundwater levels. But they need to be followed up with more stricter policies of zoning like that in Boston and Jordan. Also, old wells need to be monitored and closed if they seem to be polluting or over drawing water beyond the set limits by Water Law. Weakness - There is a lack of properly specified property rights on groundwater resources in

Image Source - National Soil Information System In Yemen & Status And Challenges, The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Yemen. In fact, it is extremely difficult to define property rights to groundwater. Customarily, in Yemen, the rights in groundwater belong to the landowner as groundwater is attached to the land property. There is no limitation on the volume of groundwater extraction by a landowner. Since, landownership is a prerequisite to ownership of groundwater, it is difficult to assign „open access‟ nature to groundwater resource. Regulating protection zones in unsaturated areas in Yemen is critical to manage over-draft areas and provide a sustainable future to the agriculture industry. The crop type and water extraction quantity need to be monitored in these highly dry zones. Permits — “Water Law in 2002 it is mandatory to apply for permission to drill a new well, deepen it, or repair an existing one for wells deeper than 60 meters (Lichtenthaler 2014). To deepen a well, no permit is required if it is the first time and the additional depth does not exceed 20 meters (Yemen 2002). Well owners must apply for a water right license within 15 days after completion of the well. The control of wells, water rights, and drilling rigs is based on the National Water Resource Authority (NWRA) mandate who issues licenses to undertake groundwater drilling or exploration activities (Morill and Simas 2009). Irrigation water pricing does not exist and tariffs are only charged for urban and rural water supply and sanitation services connected to the public network; prices for private supply via tankers are driven by the market. Holders of earlier rights to groundwater (wells) are requested to come to the NWRA and register their rights within a period of three years in order to confirm their legal access to the resource. The law also includes the possibility to establish prohibition

case study yemen - water economy

groundwater governance zones in case of critical overdraft, where new wells can be banned, water entitlements can be reduced, or even canceled against due compensation, until the causes of the prohibition have been removed. Employees of the NWRA can freely enter properties to make measurements and control actual abstraction (accompanied by police and security personnel if need be). Fines and punishments of imprisonment with maximum between one months and two years are listed for all kinds of possible violations.”(- 10.3 Groundwater management policy and regulation in Yemen, “Groundwater governance in the Arab World – Taking Stock and addressing the challenges”) “A proposed new tube well is not allowed within the command area of a public supply tube well or within the radius of 500m of an existing tube well over 100 m deep, Alderwish (2012a). The applicant is required to secure the consent of neighboring owners before license is provided. Furthermore, since the spacing norms do not apply to a modern water extraction mechanism being located close to a traditional water extraction mechanism, they seek to protect resource rich early exploiters from late exploiters; but do not offer any protection to existing owners of traditional water extraction mechanisms who are usually poor.” (— 3.2.1 Direct Regulation, Review of Yemen’s Control of Groundwater Extraction Regime: Situation and Options) Strength - Require for permit for a new well and prohibition on new tube wells around a public supply well are very similar to policies established as ‘well head protection strategy’ in many other countries. These seem to work well when even the existing wells around the supply are monitored closely. Weakness - Capacity constraints mean that, in practice, governments can only regulate the larger operators through, say, a system of permits. The permit system can also be used to collect water resource fees or other charges (Van Koppen, 2010). In practice, the actual effect of such norms and the manner of their enforcement is often inequitable and regressive. When landholdings are small and fragmented, spacing between wells cannot be ensured without denying permission to latecomers whose proposed well may come within the radius of influence of the existing well in an aquifer. A recommended program can be applied in permitting - an innovative approach, using water blocks (bloques de riego) and issuing individual or communal water licenses or so called licencias de agua (permanent water rights for irrigated areas). The program was initially implemented in coastal regions of Peru and was developed gradually in close coordination with user organizations. Importance/Value — “Since the unification in 1990, Yemen has differentiated 4 phases in Yemen’s water policy since the 1990s. The first phase (between 1990 and 1995) was dominated by inertia and a lack of explicit strategy to address water scarcity in the country, with a policy of laissez-faire. The second policy phase began in 1995 when the national Water Resources Authority was given the mandate to be the sole governmental agency responsible for the formulation of

water resource policies. This is the only institution authorized to license well-drilling, and it is also supposed to regulate and register drilling companies. The main policy adopted during this period was the increase in diesel prices, as a disincentive to pumping and conserving groundwater. During this phase began the long process of developing and drafting a new Water Law for the country. This process antagonized two factions within Yemen’s government: the irrigation specialists in the Ministry of Agriculture, with their goal to maximize production, and the hydrologists and environmentalists concerned about sustainability (FMWEY 2015). This antagonism lasted several years, also fueled by the vested interests and the lack of political leadership, more “in favor of the short term benefit” and “to please the land owner, and the tribes, and farmers, especially qat farmers” (ibid.). Phase 3 began in 2002 with the enactment of the Water Law and, the following year, the creation of the Ministry of Water and Environment, which was supposed to have full authority over water management. The enactment of the Water Law took so long due to the ‘vested interests’ of the different parties, which were mostly in favor of keeping the ‘status quo’ (represented by sheikhs and landowners members of parliament) (FMWEY 2015). As a Former Minister of Water and Environment in Yemen put it “water has never been really a priority in the politics of Yemen. The rhetoric is high but actually the priority is not” (FMWEY 2015). During this third phase, the creation of the new Ministry of Water and Environment (which was supposed to be all encompassing, responsible for all issues regarding water resources) was opposed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, as well as landowners who went straight to the president to complain. Within a week of having formed the cabinet, the president announced that the powers of this new ministry would be reduced to water as a resource, and the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for distributing water and for irrigation (FMWEY 2015; Lackner 2014). The bylaws of the Water Law, issued in February 2011 ruled over the sole powers of the National Water Resources Authority to issue permits for the construction or deepening of wells. The control of wells, water rights, and drilling rigs is based on the National Water Resource Authority (NWRA) mandate who issues licenses to undertake groundwater drilling or exploration activities (Morill and Simas 2009). Irrigation water pricing does not exist and tariffs are only charged for urban and rural water supply and sanitation services connected to the public network; prices for private supply via tankers are driven by the market. The law also includes the possibility to establish prohibition zones in case of critical overdraft, where new wells can be banned, water entitlements can be reduced, or even canceled against due compensation, until the causes of the prohibition have been removed. In Yemen, the government has also sought groundwater management via political and administrative decentralization. The move started with the announcement of Law 4/2000 concerning the new organizational and administrative arrangement of local authorities (Van Steenbergen and El Naouari 2010). The fourth phase in Yemen’s water policies started in 2011 with the National Water conference and the end of the Saleh political regime (Lackner 2014). aimed at ‘giving communities responsibility for water management’ via decentralization, as

case study yemen - water economy

well as using a combination of local traditional water rules with the water law and top level intervention on illegal drilling (with participation of local authorities and security forces).” (— 10.4 Traditional groundwater management systems and their recent evolution in Yemen, “Groundwater governance in the Arab World – Taking Stock and addressing the challenges”) Critique Strength - Yemen has gone through many different stages of valuing and de-valuing groundwater. Eventually in its third phase it has learned that the economy of Yemen is solely based on Agriculture production hat is based on the groundwater resource. This pointed them to realize how critical it is for them to monitor groundwater. Also, the fourth phase of decentralize seems to work well in Yemen compared to other countries is due to its culture of self-governance and less trust on their government. Thus, it works best for them to manage the resource at a community level. Weakness - increases in diesel prices during the 2010s did not meet as strong an opposition from large landowners as before, due to the fact that they benefited also from other measures such as subsidies for the introduction of modern irrigation Location of cases mentioned: 1. Sana’s (Wadi Qarada, Khrabat Muhyab, Wadi Dhelaa) 2. Taiz (Al-sinah) 3. Amran (Hijrat Al-Muntasir) 4. Sa’da governorate Source: Van der Gun and Ahmed 1995. 1 2 3 4 79 techniques (e.g. drip irrigation). Also the lack of support from Ministry of Irrigation and Agriculture given to NWRA dis empowered them to take the necessary and timely actions to protect Yemen’s resource. Mapping — There has been no official policy or strategy to map the vulnerability of groundwater in Yemen. Many academic initiative have been taken that are then referenced for governance. “Groundwater is the main source of water in arid and semi-arid regions. Therefore, pollution of groundwater is a major issue because aquifers and the contained groundwater are inherently susceptible to contamination from wastewater and agricultural activities. Aquifer vulnerability has been assessed in the Sana’a basin using the DRASTIC method, based on a Geographic Information System (GIS). The DRASTIC model uses seven environmental parameters (Depth to water, net Recharge, Aquifer media, Soil media, Topography, Impact of vadose zone, and hydraulic Conductivity) to characterize the hydrogeological setting and evaluate aquifer vulnerability. A regional scale aquifer vulnerability map of the basin was prepared using overlay analysis with the aid of GIS. A DRASTIC vulnerability map, verified by data of nitrate in groundwater, shows that the defined areas are compatible with land-use data. It is concluded that 6.4% of the basin area is highly vulnerable and urgent pollution-preventions measures should be taken for every kind of relevant activity within the whole basin.” (— Assessment of Aquifer Vulnerability Based on GIS and ARCGIS Methods: A Case Study of the Sana’a Basin (Yemen))

case study yemen - water economy

Critique Strength- DRASTIC method results are useful in the design of aquifer protection and management strategies. This scenario provides an important benefit in relation to time and economy for local authorities involved in managing groundwater resource. More such mapping initiatives should be encouraged for the whole region by responsible authorities and agencies. Weakness- Although land owners own groundwater, this right is limited by the huge investment necessary to tap the groundwater by construction / drilling of irrigation well(s) and high well failure probability, which makes a selected few among them to have access to groundwater. Thus an ‘Aquifer Yield’ map shall be helpful, to visiblize the depletion levels of Aquifers and also to save investment made on drilling wells which may no longer b able to provide water. Water Transfer Project — As Yemen solely relies on groundwater for their irrigation and industrial production they have multiple registered and unregistered wells and scarce resource to propose a water transfer project like that of China. They can certainly attempt at building reservoirs and recharge groundwater through rain water harvesting that can be latter used for irrigation instead of drawing from the ground. Government Structure — “The Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) oversees formulating water policies in Yemen. In the field of water supply and sanitation it is supported by a Technical Secretariat (TS) for Water Sector Reform. The government envisages to create an autonomous regulatory agency for the water and sanitation sector. Four agencies report to the Ministry: The National Water Resources Authority (NWRA) for water resources management, the National Water and Sewerage Authority (NWSA) for urban water supply, the General Authority for Rural Water Supply (GARWSP) for rural water supply,[47] and the Environment Protection Agency (EPA).[48] The National Water Resources Authority (NWRA) has the mission to manage the nation’s water resources on a sustainable basis, to ensure satisfaction of basic water needs by all but especially by the poor, and to establish a system of water allocation that is fair, yet flexible for meeting varying needs of economically and demographically dynamic sectors. NWRA has branches in Sana’a, Taiz, Sa’dah, Aden, Hadramaut and Hodeida.[49] The General Authority for Rural Water Supply (GARWSP) provides support to water user associations in rural areas. “Government had passed a broad water law in 2003, and grouped all water institutions, with the exception of irrigation and watershed management functions, under a single ministry, The Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE). The National Water Resource Authority (NWRA) of MWE is tasked with issuing licenses for water wells and enforcing the water laws. However, NWRA‟s lowly status among Yemen’s central institutions reflects the lack of top-level recognition that secure water supplies underpin the country’s future stability, World Bank (2008).

case study yemen - water economy

Weakness – The different Government institutions lack effective manage the water resource of Yemen because of the lack of coordination and cooperation between them regarding the implementation of the official Water Strategy of the government. All the government officials met were very concerned about the role of ‘Qat-crop’ in the fast depletion of Yemen ground water recourses but none of them was optimistic that there will be a drastic solution to the problem of ‘Qat-crop’ because of the strong vested interests involved in the production and marketing of ‘Qat’-crop. Also, most of the officials met thought a price hike in diesel will go a long way in reducing the quantities of water extracted for irrigation purpose but they all agree that the government will not be able to raise the price of diesel in the next two years because of the political opposition to such move. A decentralized system of having local associations and cooperatives govern the wells and groundwater seems to be more successfully in Yemen. An additional awareness and knowledge to these association regarding the role of groundwater in the larger ecosystem may help them govern it in a sustainable way. Groundwater Governance structure in Yemen Image Source - MANAGING THE INVISIBLE - Understanding and Improving Groundwater Governance - June 2012 http://www.worldbank.org/water)

sheikhs, large landowners and the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation.” (-3.2.4. Administrative, Legal and organizational issues, Review of Yemen’s Control of Groundwater Extraction Regime: Situation and Options) In Yemen, the government has also sought groundwater management via political and administrative decentralization. This is by giving communities responsibility for water management via decentralization, as well as using a combination of local traditional water rules with the water law and top level intervention on illegal drilling (with participation of local authorities and security forces) Critique Strength - Several instances of groundwater community management have been reported In Yemen (Bruns and Taher 2009; Van Steenbergen et al. 2012; Taher et al. 2012). These include the use of different formal and informal rules in place to abstract groundwater and manage wells by individuals within communities. Shared wells have also appeared in the Wadi Dhelaa, Sana’a, where ownership of the wells is divided in shares to half a day’s water supply. As there is no user association for farmers and local councils in this case study, security forces or members of parliament can be called upon to settle the conflicts (Taher et al. 2012). As reflected by Bruns and Taher (2009), cases studied in Yemen where community-led groundwater management has succeeded, show solid local institutions and community consensus which provide enough certainty for farmers to mobilize substantial funding to drill wells and to manage them communally and control the use of water.

Source i) MANAGING THE INVISIBLE - Understanding and Improving Groundwater Governance - June 2012 (http://www.worldbank.org/ water) ii) Assessment of Aquifer Vulnerability Based on GIS and ARCGIS Methods: A Case Study of the Sana’a Basin (Yemen), Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 2011, 3, 845-855 iii) Review of Yemen’s Control of Groundwater Extraction Regime: Situation and Options iv) “Groundwater governance in the Arab World – Taking Stock and addressing the challenges” -IWRM paper v) Incentives to reduce groundwater,extraction in Yemen, Report 2008058, November 2008,Project code 20954, LEI Wageningen UR, The Hague

great britain Agents and their Responsibility The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) set the policy and regulatory framework for the water industry in England and Wales. The Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) is the independent economic regulator of the water industry. Its main statutory duties include: protecting the interests of consumers; securing the long-term resilience of water supply and wastewater systems; and ensuring that companies carry out their functions and are able to finance them

case study great britain groundwater flooding

Environment Agency (EA) has a strategic overview role while local authorities. They have a new leadership role in local flood risk management. Flood & Water Management Act - 2010 provide better, more sustainable management of flood risk for people, homes and businesses, help safeguard community groups from in-affordable rises in surface water drainage charges and protect water supplies to the consumer. County and unitary local authorities (LA) Local flood risk covers flooding from an ordinary watercourse, surface runoff and groundwater. Public and private bodies, such as Internal Drainage Boards Issues - Groundwater flooding in locations where highly permeable deposits are in contact with major rivers. Here the water table is close to the ground surface throughout the year, but when rivers are in flood, water flows quickly from the river into the floodplain sediments causing the water table to rise away from the area affected by river over-banking, potentially flooding basements and low lying property and infrastructure. This type of groundwater flooding occurs within days of river flooding but equally flood waters can recede during a similar period of time once river flows return to near normal rates. Main water source for drinking and irrigation - Groundwater Climate - Frequent rainfall

case study great britain - groundwater flooding

Plan- The Water Act 1973 established 10 new regional water authorities

Plan- Privatization of 10 publicly owned water and sewerage authorities

ii Map- English and Welsh counties in 1824 based on rivers

Map- Important rivers and drainage basins since 1800s

Map- Historic 32 boroughs formed based on rivers and drainage

Plan- Groundwater supply for public use

Great Britain was first divided into administrative areas by the Romans in 1824, most likely following major geographical features such as rivers.

The ten publicly owned water and sewerage authorities were privatized in 1989 (after initial plans for privatization were put on hold in 1986).

Image Source - Ofwat; The economic regulator of the water sector in England and Wales

groundwater governance

Zoning - Early Boundaries - 32 boroughs of England were formed by the rivers as the main drivers of settlement patterns in the United Kingdom. They were mapped in the early 15th century to support the growth of new cities and provide water for sewer and drainage. They also acted as boundaries for local governing bodies, that organized its own water and sewerage services. This left different areas of the country with varying levels of water and sewerage services. Protection Zone - “Detailed maps of nearly 2000 protection zones. Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) have been created to reduce nitrates entering groundwater by limiting the amount of nitrogen applied to farmland. These include the Catchment Sensitive Farming scheme, the Voluntary Initiative for controlling pesticides, and reform of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy.” (— Environmental Agency ; The state of groundwater in England and Wales) Critique Strength - Taking surficial water body, such as a river to demarcate different boundaries has been a political method of governing and also development of towns for is economic and waste disposal method. Protective zoning also provides control and regulation over prioritized areas to safe guard the resource. Weakness -It is important to understand the fluidity of water that flows across towns needs to be managed by treating it as one uniform entity. Nitrates may be the current

threat and thus the NVZs are the focus but they should also focus on bacterial and other pollutants that can contaminate the groundwater specially in a region with high industrialization history. Permits – “As part of Environmental Agency’s regulatory role, we can issues permits for extractions and for discharges to water and land and have enforcement powers. Where possible, our decisions and actions are risk based. We concentrate on activities and operators that are most likely to harm groundwater. We can refuse licenses if, for example, we believe they will cause erosion of someone else’s existing abstraction rights or harm an aquifer or a protected wetland. The Water Framework Directive extends our role. We will be able to refuse to license activities that are likely to harm river, lake, estuary, coastal or wetland environments, or are likely to cause saline intrusion or other contamination of clean groundwater.” (— Environmental Agency ; The state of groundwater in England and Wales) Critique Strength - Registration through permits or licenses is an appropriate approach for larger users or the more formalized sectors, but other approaches may be a cheaper and more equitable solution where small scale users are involved. Weakness - While doing risk based analysis to determine approval of permit brings in room for ambiguity as something that is less risky may still have some impact on groundwater. A more measurable method is required to determine permit approvals.

case study great britain - groundwater flooding

iii

Map- Aquifer yield

iii

Plan- projective impact of climate change on groundwater supply

case study great britain - groundwater flooding

iii

Map- Boreholes coverage spanning between different yielding aquifers

Map- Sub-surficial Geology - analysis for presence of groundwater

Map- Geo-hazard map to identify areas of groundwater flooding

Map- Shrinking and swelling of the ground due to groundwater fluctuation

Aquifer yields were not only mapped for drinking water-supply but also their role in supporting surface-water flows and wetland ecosystems.

Groundwater vulnerability maps - developed through analyzing different layers that impact groundwater and how its fluctuation can create hazardous landscape across the region

Image Source - Ofwat; The economic regulator of the water sector in England and Wales

Mapping — “The ‘Aquifer yields map’ was developed more accurately and monitored since 2010. They were not only mapped for drinking water-supply but also their role in supporting surface-water flows and wetland ecosystems. They also served as a base for mapping groundwater vulnerability. It would be helpful if the climate change impact analysis could be developed based on aquifer yield and geology rather than being framed within private water management companies that fund to map them. The aquifer yield map also were used for creating resiliency plan for development by generating groundwater flooding maps as a part of the Geo-hazard program. The high yield areas were more prone to flooding due to the type of sub-surficial geology and its property to hold and transfer water as well as the presence of saturated and unsaturated grounds could determine where groundwater would surface above ground in a situation of rain and hurricanes.” (—British Geological Survey, Aquifers and shales,https://www.bgs.ac.uk/research/ groundwater/shaleGas/aquifersAndShales)

This product is intended for use by groundwater technical specialists due to the complex nature of the legend, which displays groundwater vulnerability (high, medium, low), the type of aquifer (bedrock, superficial, unproductive) and aquifer designation (principal, secondary, unproductive). These maps require that users are able to understand the vulnerability assessment method and interpret the individual components of the legend. ii) Simplified groundwater vulnerability map This is designed for non-specialists who need to know the overall risk to groundwater from a particular activity, development or pollution incident, but do not have extensive hydrogeological knowledge. The map has five risk categories (high, medium-high, medium, medium-low and low) based on the likelihood of a pollutant reaching the groundwater (i.e. vulnerability), the type of aquifers present and the potential impact (i.e. the aquifer designation).” (— British Geological Survey, Groundwater vulnerability data, https://www.bgs.ac.uk/products/ hydrogeology/GroundwaterVulnerability.html)

“Groundwater vulnerability map was established in order to provide developers and towns to planners access their development and investment. For the first time, the maps provide a separate assessment of the vulnerability of groundwater in overlying superficial rocks, and those that comprise the underlying bedrock. The maps also reflect improvements in data mapping and understanding of the factors affecting vulnerability The vulnerability maps were published in two formats i)Combined groundwater vulnerability map

Critique Strength - Vulnerability map development - The concept of groundwater vulnerability is derived from the assumption that the physical environment may provide some degree of protection of groundwater against natural and human impacts, especially with regard to pollutants entering the subsurface environment (Foster et al. 2002).Vulnerability maps are helpful to understand and gauge the risk of region and the scale of impact in a situation of disaster.

case study great britain - groundwater flooding

groundwater governance Aquifer yield is a good indicator to reflect the impacts of climate change on the region. The regional administration can access their future development policies based on the aquifer yield and its future consumption. Aquifer yield measurements can also help understand the permeability of the urban ground and design its recharge strategies accordingly. Weakness - Vulnerability Maps’ and ‘Aquifer Yield Maps’ are helpful to understand and gauge the risk of region and it’s maximum capacity. They are vey scientific and have limitations to communicate the relationship between weather patterns, region type and the occurrence of different levels of flooding to larger audience to better respond to the situation. Alternative representative methods would be required. Water transfer — “In dry periods groundwater can be pumped out of aquifers into rivers to increase flow. There are over 50 of these augmentation schemes in England and Wales, usually used to protect the river environment or to support abstraction from the river downstream. In exceptionally dry years this still may not be enough water. Groundwater is then pumped into the river from the sandstone aquifer that underlies much of North Shropshire. The £20 million groundwater scheme began in 1982 and is being completed in eight stages as water demands increase. When all phases are complete an extra 225,000 m3 per day will be able to be taken from the river for public supply, enough water for more than 600,000 homes.” (— Environmental Agency ; The state of groundwater in England and Wales, Groundwater protection: policy and practice) Critique Strength- The pumping of water into the rivers shall definitely provide people with water for their daily use and deliver the promised quantity as per the private companies to their customers but this project my be very short lived Weakness - The true weakness of this policy lies in the perception and the misunderstanding the behavior of groundwater and how its characteristics are ignored and purely treated as a commodity of trade while implementing this strategy. Groundwater levels and quality are critical to wetlands and marshes. They also maintain the salt intrusion line from pushing in. Thus when abstraction is increased and water is pumped into river during dry periods may have many other adverse effects within the region. Also other controlled recharge methods and ‘groundwater reservoirs’ can be helpful to maintain the river levels during dry period other than pumping it from the aquifers. Importance/Value—”The Water Resources Act 1963 led to further changes, which were in response to a severe drought in 1959 and flooding events in 1960. The Act recognized the importance of a co-ordinated approach to water resource planning and introduced an administration system for the right to remove groundwater (‘extraction permits’). This was intended to make sure that existing and future water resources were adequately conserved. The Water Act 1973 established 10 new regional water authorities. These authorities were

responsible for managing water resources and supplying water and sewerage services on a fully integrated basis. The area that each water authority covered was broadly based on river catchment areas. Privatization of these regions was issues in 1989 to enhance their financial performance and revenue. This was done by raising of capital by floating parent companies on the London Stock Exchange and the provision of capital tax allowances. This did not solve their pollution problem but helped in consolidating and fund management for the central body.” (— 1.3 Restructuring, The Development Of The Water Industry In England And Wales, By Ofwat) Extraction increase - “Groundwater flooding is a natural occurrence, but the problem is complicated when areas that have artificially low water tables due to past industrial extraction are developed. When this extraction stops, due to the decline of some industries, groundwater rises to the previous natural level. For instance, in London groundwater levels had fallen to 90 meters below the surface by the 1960s. Since then the rate of extraction has declined and groundwater levels have recovered. The rising groundwater threatened to flood some parts of the underground infrastructure. The only way to stop this happening has been to increase extraction again, to keep the water table below foundations and tunnels”. Recharge- “Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems are an approach to drainage management in towns and cities that try to mimic natural drainage patterns as much as possible. These drainage systems can intercept pollutants and reduce flood risk, and we think that they should become a common feature of urban design.” Economic Value - “Environmental Agency are carrying out research to try to place an economic value on groundwater. As water resources become scarcer, either from climate change or increased use by society, then the value of groundwater could increase.(explain it further) exceed a certain amount. “ (— Environmental Agency ; The state of groundwater in England and Wales, Groundwater protection: policy and practice) Critique — Strength - “These authorities were responsible for managing water resources and supplying water and sewerage services on a fully integrated basis. The area that each water authority covered was broadly based on river catchment areas.” - Is scientifically a better way to divide the regions as each catchment has a common drainage direction defined by the topography thus easier to manage and lay down storm water infrastructure and filtration methods to recharge the ground. “Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems” approach to drainage management is one of the best managment practices for managing groundwater and local flooding, practiced across many cities. In response to a severe drought in 1959 and flooding events in 1960. The Act recognized the importance of a co-ordinated approach to water resource planning and introduced an administration system for the right to remove groundwater (‘extraction permits’). This was intended to make sure that existing and future water resources were adequately conserved. The Water Act 1973 established 10 new regional water authorities. These authorities were responsible for managing water resources and supplying water and sewerage services on a fully integrated basis. The area that each

case study great britain - groundwater flooding

water authority covered was broadly based on river catchment areas. Privatization of these regions was issues in 1989 to enhance their financial performance and revenue. This was done by raising of capital by floating parent companies on the London Stock Exchange and the provision of capital tax allowances. This did not solve their pollution problem but helped in consolidating and fund management for the central body. Governance Structure- “Privatization of water supply and sewerage functions in England and Wales took place in 1989. There are now 23 water companies supplying domestic users (Ofwat).The primary aim of water resource management is to ensure a stable supply of water to support increasing populations and economic growth. Every five years, water companies in England and Wales produce a plan setting out how they’ll manage water resources over the next 25 years. These water resource management plans (WRMPs) derive best estimates of future demand for water based on population projections and estimates of water consumption per person. In parallel, projections of how their current water supplies will be affected by future pressures such as climate change, pollution and reductions in supply to meet the needs of the aquatic environment are derived. The supply forecast and the demand forecast are then compared — if demand exceeds supply then a number of options need to be considered to either increase supply or lower demand. The options are assessed on their economic, social and environmental merits and a set of preferred options are selected. Water companies will then begin to implement these options to ensure security of supply over the next 25 years. The process is overseen by a range of regulators and the plans are available for public consultation. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)- Sets the overall water and sewerage policy framework in England. This includes: standard setting, drafting of legislation creating special permits (e.g. drought orders) Environment Agency (EA) -The environmental regulator of the water and sewerage sector in England. They are the principal adviser to the government on the environment, and the leading public body protecting and improving the environment of England. They work in partnership with a range of other organizations to reduce flood risk, promote sustainable development, secure environmental and social benefits. Ofwat - the economic regulator of the water and sewerage sectors, They: protect the interests of consumers, wherever appropriate by promoting competition make sure that the water companies properly carry out their functions and ensure that the water companies can finance their functions. Drinking Water Inspectorate - The drinking water quality regulator. They check that the water companies in England and Wales supply water that is safe to drink and meets the standards set in the Water Quality Regulations. They do this by: checking the tests that water companies, carry out on drinking water and inspect individual companies . County and unitary local authorities (LA) - Local flood risk covers flooding from an ordinary watercourse, surface runoff and groundwater.” (— Water sector overview, Ofwat, https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/regulated-companies/ofwat-industry-overview)

case study great britain - groundwater flooding

Multidisciplinary collaboration - “ We also work with and advise others, such as development planners and industrial groups, to identify groundwater issues.” (— Environmental Agency ; The state of groundwater in England and Wales, Groundwater protection: policy and practice) creating special permits (e.g. drought orders) Environment Agency (EA) -The environmental regulator of the water and sewerage sector in England. They are the principal adviser to the government on the environment, and the leading public body protecting and improving the environment of England. They work in partnership with a range of other organizations to reduce flood risk, promote sustainable development, secure environmental and social benefits. Ofwat - the economic regulator of the water and sewerage sectors, They: protect the interests of consumers, wherever appropriate by promoting competition make sure that the water companies properly carry out their functions and ensure that the water companies can finance their functions. Drinking Water Inspectorate - The drinking water quality regulator. They check that the water companies in England and Wales supply water that is safe to drink and meets the standards set in the Water Quality Regulations. They do this by: checking the tests that water companies, carry out on drinking water and inspect individual companies . County and unitary local authorities (LA) - Local flood risk covers flooding from an ordinary watercourse, surface runoff and groundwater.” (— Water sector overview, Ofwat, https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/regulated-companies/ofwat-industry-overview) Multidisciplinary collaboration - “ We also work with and advise others, such as development planners and industrial groups, to identify groundwater issues.” (— Environmental Agency ; The state of groundwater in England and Wales, Groundwater protection: policy and practice) Critique — Strength - There is no one perfect solution and hence approaches need to be selected in the light of local conditions and experience. The better governance yields through experience and by evaluating the pro’s ad cons of how previous polices have impacted the region. Determining the correct balance between governance options may take time and it is crucial to keep the options under review. A clear hierarchy and division of responsibility among the responsible departments provide a more efficient management. An organization that works collectively towards a common goal. Weakness- Local branches of ministries or agencies may be close enough to the ground to impose regulation. There are good reasons why the option of extending subsidiarity to local collective action could be considered. “This would allow all the strengths of community management to be mobilized (knowledge, the incentives of self-interest and ownership, accepted patterns of water rights, social and institutional capital, and so on) in areas where water users are few enough that they can agree on self regulation and where each pumper can see the benefits.” (— Managing The Invisible, Understanding And Improving Groundwater Governance, June 2012)

Source i) Ofwat; The economic regulator of the water sector in England and Wales ii) Environmental Agency ; The state of groundwater in England and Wales iii) http://www.groundwateruk.org/Flood-and-WaterManagement-Act / Aims and drivers for the Act iv)Groundwater management data - data.gov.uk v)British geological survey -Water resources and groundwater

china

Agents and their Responsibility

National People’s congress (NPC) Water pollution prevention controll law (WPPC 1996,2008) Water Law (2002) Mineral resources law (1986) Cental MWR Ministry of Water Resources, MEP Ministry of Environmental Protection, MLR Ministry of Land and Resources

case study china land subsidence

Province

WRB Water Resources Bureau, EPB Environmental Protection Bureau, DLR Department of Land and Resources, LRB Land and Resources Bureau, RBO River Basin Organizations

Issues - With the increasing groundwater extraction rate, most aquifers in northern China have been over-drafted, among which the entire Hebei Province, the aquifers in mega or middle-sized cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shenyang, Haerbin, Jinan, Taiyuan and Zhengzhou are all over-pumped. More than 100 regional groundwater cones of depression have been formed with the total area exceeding 150,000 km². In the North China Plain, the cone of depression has spanned from Hebei to Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, with the groundwater level in an area of 70,000 km2 lower than sea level (Liu et al. 2001). The regional groundwater level decline has also impacted groundwater dependent ecosystems, such as the shrinking or disappearing of wetlands and degradation of vegetation coverage. Land subsidence occurred in more than 40 cities because of groundwater overdraft, among which Shanghai, Tianjin and Taiyuan have the maximum accumulative land subsidence over 2 m. In coastal areas such as Dalian, Qinhuangdao, Cangzhou, Qingdao, and Beihai, seawater intrusion has caused degradation of groundwater quality in a total area of nearly 1000 km2, among which Shandong and Liaodong Peninsula are the most seriously affected. In addition, aquifer salinization has been caused by intensive irrigation in the North China Plain (Foster et al. 2004), the middle stream of the Yellow River and inland basins of northwestern China. Main water source for drinking and irrigation - Among the 657 cities in China, more than 400 (61 %) cities use groundwater as their major water supply. Climate - Varying rainfall across the region

case study china - land subsidence

Map- Aquifer map

case study china - land subsidence

Map- Spatial distribution of resource

China’s major aquifer types and their spatial distribution of groundwater resources in China (Data Source: The Ministry of Water Resources)

Image Source - Liu J., Zheng C. (2016) Towards Integrated Groundwater Management in China.

groundwater governance

Zoning – “Groundwater protection has been discussed as plan of the ground water management in China since 1960’s but there has been no explicit defined policy of protection zones in the water management document. “There has been a larger zoning divide which is by the availability of resources between North China and South China. According to the latest round (2000–2002) national groundwater resource assessment by the Ministry of Land and Resources, the average annual natural groundwater recharge in China is 884 billion m3/year, accounting for nearly one-third of the nation’s total water resources. The spatial distribution of groundwater resource in China is quite uneven. Nearly 70 % of its groundwater resource is in southern China (38 % of the country’s total land area) while only 30 % is in northern China (62 % of the total land area). In general, the abundance of the groundwater resource decreases gradually from the southeast to the northwest (Fig.2). Moreover, 74 % of the groundwater resource is in the mountainous areas and 26 % in plain areas, which adds difficulty and restriction in its exploitation and utilization (Zhang and Li 2004).” (—18.2.1 Types of Groundwater Resources and the Distribution, Towards Integrated Groundwater Management in China.) This has also led to initiating to unsustainable water transfer projects to combat groundwater depression zones in North China.

CritiqueStrength – It is beneficial to zone the region as per the availability of resources for economic exploitation purpose. Weakness- It is essential to define groundwater protection regions and boundaries for

Map- South to North water transfer project

Map- Groundwater depression

Major policys and schemes are proposed to counter act the land subsidance North China where groundwater depression is higher than South China. (Data Source: The Ministry of Water Resources)

Image Source - Liu J., Zheng C. (2016) Towards Integrated Groundwater Management in China.

controlling groundwater pollution and also extraction. Defining the boundaries of the resource system and of those authorized to use it can be thought of as a first step in organizing for collective action (Ostrom, 1993). Permitting- “The 2002 Water Law opened for permitting of water extractions, which is the principal administrative management tool for regulation of groundwater extraction. The basis for permitting was established by MWR in “Water licensing and water resources fee collection and management regulations” effective since April 2006.” (—3.5.2 Administrative Regulation And Solutions, Groundwater In China Part 1 - Occurrence And Use)

CritiqueStrength – In principle groundwater abstraction is subject to licensing and permitting by Ministry of Water Resources and its line agencies at province2, municipal, city and county levels, but in practice licensing is at a very early stage. Weakness- The owners of wells had registered their wells with the local Water Resources Bureau and been given a permit to abstract the amount indicated by pumping tests, but no assessment had been made of the aggregate impact of the extractions. Importance/ValueAccelerating Water Conservancy Reform and Development,2011” introduces ‘Three Red Lines Strategy’ for better water resources management, including specific reference to groundwater “The underground water management and protection should be tightened up by checking and announcing the scope of prohibited and restricted water drawing as soon as

case study china - land subsidence

possible and gradually reducing the excessive amount of underground water drawn for the balance between drawing and supplying” (Article 19). The document also opens for greater use of economic instruments, such as a “system of progressive price for industrial and service water usage above the quota”, “widening the water price difference between high water consumption industries and other industries” and “reasonably adjust water price for urban residential use by steadily implementing a system of differential water pricing”. In 2011 State Council approved the “National Groundwater Pollution Prevention Plan 20112020” jointly submitted by MEP, MLR and MWR14. According to the plan China will invest a total of 25 billion RMB in the prevention and treatment of groundwater pollution during the period 2011-2020, of which 20 billion RMB will be assigned to demonstration projects for protection of groundwater sources of drinking water and 5 billion RMB for groundwater pollution prevention projects, including agricultural non-point source pollution.” (—China 2011 No.1 Document)

CritiqueStrength - Chinese Three Red Lines Strategy on stricter management of water quantity, water use efficiency and water quality, a corresponding action plan and an upgrade of the existing water abstraction permitting procedure. Systematic water pricing along with differential pricing is a sustainable measure to add value to groundwater. But it is to be learned from Jordan’s pricing policy that it is important to set the right pricing as per the consumption of industry so as to discourage groundwater extraction. Weakness- An increase in extraction rate has been observed since 2010. The principal difference lies in the large demands of irrigated agriculture in China and will require research on water footprints of different crops for a more qualified comparison. Multiple policies have been in place but there is a struggle in its implementation, as the groundwater level continuous to drop with increase in extraction. Mapping - “Groundwater as a resource. China’s hydrogeological work was launched right after the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, closely linked with the demands of the nation’s reconstruction and socioeconomic development. During this stage, groundwater was managed as a type of geological resource by the Ministry of Geology back then (later changed to the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources, and now the Ministry of Land and Resources). The major task of this stage was to conduct hydrogeological investigations for the major industrial and urban construction projects. Groundwater protection was mentioned for the first time in the ‘Interim Regulations on Mineral Resources Protection’ (1956), which states that: hydro-geological investigations and reasonable extraction plans should be enforced to prevent groundwater resources from being damaged; and the relevant departments should adopt effective measures to prevent groundwater contamination from the discharged industrial, medical or municipal wastewater.” (—18.3 Perspectives on Groundwater Development and Management in China, Towards Integrated Groundwater Management in China)

case study china - land subsidence

CritiqueStrength – When groundwater is perceived as a mineral resource it is strictly guarded as it holds high economic value. It also receives a good share of public funding for its management. It led to the setup of the discipline of Hydrogeology in colleges, and academic activities have been carried out since the late 1950s. At this stage, many working methods were learnt and adopted from the former Soviet Union. Weakness- When this value is thought of with respect to ecosystem services provided by groundwater it leads to a more sustainable policy development. “Limited knowledge of the location, extent and depth of groundwater aquifers, especially in the Northwest Deserts. Limited access to modern tools for groundwater resource assessments” (—3-Challenges and Solutions, Groundwater in China Part 1 - Occurrence and Use, COWI) Water transfer— “The main solution to groundwater shortages that China has embarked on is the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP), which will transfer water from the Yangtze River Basin to the North China Plain. The east and central routes are expected when in full operation by 2020. Their main purpose is strategic water security for the future Beijing – Tianjin Metropolis with 50 million people, but all cities and counties along the route and on the North China Plain see the project as the “silver bullet” to current water shortages and future growth. In this context, it is worth noticing that the annual groundwater extraction on the North China Plain is estimated at 18 billion m3 or 65% of the full capacity of the SNWTP. On top of this comes the increased urban and industrial water supply and environmental demands to restore the groundwater and the flow of the Hai River. The SNWTP offers a unique opportunity to restore the groundwater resources under the North China Plain provided it is coupled with additional demand side solutions to arrive at a sustainable utilization.” ( —https://www.water-technology.net/projects/south_north/)

CritiqueStrength – It has the short-term project, benefiting the north plains from sinking and replenishing the groundwater depressions generated there due to over extraction of groundwater. If the extraction continues same as now this shall be a very short lived and unsustainable project. Weakness - Like China’s other mega-project – the Three Gorges Dam – the diversion scheme has provoked many environmental concerns, principally regarding the loss of antiquities, the displacement of people and the destruction of pasture land. In addition, plans for further industrialization along the routes of the project pose a serious risk of pollution to the diverted water. Many treatment facilities are being built on the route to counter the threat but the impact to environment is indispensable. Pulling water from South also transfers the burden of water shortages to other impoverished area in the South. Over-withdrawal during dry seasons could lead to displacement of communities

Governance Structure — The water sector in China is characterized by the earlier mentioned five ministries that are responsible to manage groundwater resource. Ministry of Water Resources (MWR), traditionally managed only surface water resources, but as part of administrative reform 1998-2003 the ministry acquired responsibility for groundwater management development. Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR), had the mandate for groundwater, as an underground natural resource, up to 2003, and in practice MLR has maintained responsibility for groundwater surveys, assessment and monitoring, all of which are highly capital demanding activities and therefore channel significant government finance to the ministry. Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), does not have formal responsibilities for groundwater management, but indirectly MoA affects groundwater extraction by promoting irrigated agriculture using groundwater in areas with inadequate rainfall or surface water resources. Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MoHURD), was established in 2008 based on the former Ministry of Construction and retains the mandate to oversee the use of underground urban water and space. Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) , was established in 2008, when the former State Environmental Protection Administration was elevated to ministerial status. It is responsible for protection of groundwater resources from industrial activities, including discharges to soil and remediation of polluted industrial sites. (— Groundwater in China part 1 - Occurrence and Use, APRIL 2013 Nature Agency Ministry Of The Environment (COWI.Com)

CritiqueStrength – An introduction of institutional mechanisms for cooperation among government departments in different sectors rather than the traditional sectoral line management and top down (command and control) direction can work towards multi- level ground water governance that shall be beneficial in the long run. Weakness- “Integration of surface water and groundwater use” is explicitly mentioned in the Water Law, with the understanding that they are one single resource of the hydrologic cycle, but there are no specific and detailed regulations on how to integrate them. Fragmented management, both horizontally between ministries representing different sectors and vertically between ministries and provinces, is the key barrier to sound water management in China. The sovereignty of China means that continued advocacy at government level is the principal path towards a solution. The situation is better at provincial and municipal levels, where the local governments have authority over line agencies and can ensure the necessary although often reluctant cooperation of these. In this case it is the Provincial Government, the Provincial Development and Reform Committee or the Provincial Planning Commission, who must be addressed. These deficiencies affect the sustainable use of groundwater resources and threaten the safety of drinking water, food security, ecological security and sustainable economic and social development.

Source i) Liu J., Zheng C. (2016) Towards Integrated Groundwater Management in China. In: Jakeman A.J., Barreteau O., Hunt R.J., Rinaudo JD., Ross A. (eds) Integrated Groundwater Management. Springer, Cham ii) China Ministry of Environmental Protection (1994) National quality standard for ground water (GB/T 14848–93) iii) China’s Groundwater Information Center (2014) http://www. cigem.gov.cn. iv) Beyer S (2006) Environmental law and policy in the people’s Republic of China Chinese. JIL 5(1):185–211 v) Groundwater in China part 1 - Occurrence and Use, APRIL 2013 Nature Agency Ministry Of The Environment (COWI.Com) vi) MANAGING THE INVISIBLE, Understanding and Improving Groundwater Governance, June 2012

conservation overlay districts (cod) and well head protection “Through the use of a preservation-based design review process and/or special planning and zoning controls tailored to address specific development concerns, conservation districts offer an alternative mechanism for protecting older, residential neighborhoods that may not qualify for historic district status.”. — Protecting older neighborhoods through ‘conservation district programs’ By Rebecca Lubens and Julia Miller “An overlay district is a common tool for establishing development restrictions, or extending development incentives, on land within a defined geographic area or characterized by specific physical features or site conditions. Adopted as part of a zoning bylaw, overlay districts are superimposed over one or more underlying conventional zoning districts in order to address areas of community interest that warrant special consideration such as historic preservation, or protection of a particular natural resource like shore lands or wildlife travel corridors”. — Vermont Natural Resources Council

Walpole has designated protection overlay district around the well heads to protect the drinking water source by drawing radius of 400’ radius around the source.

what is a protection district “To create a Water Supply Protection District, cities and towns must first identify water resources throughout their town, including all past, present and future possible sources of drinking water from both above-ground and below-ground sources. Once these sources are identified, the watersheds from which these sources are recharged are determined (water sources are recharged by all rainwater and snow melt that falls within the watershed above the source and flows downhill to the water source). Mapping water supply sources and their watersheds can be done by drawing sources on a copy of a town map or by using a geographic information system. Once the boundaries of the water supply district are determined, cities and towns will then decide what protection and conservation measures should be put in place in these districts. Some examples might include limiting high-risk uses in the district such as heavy industry, restrictions or control of substances that could contaminate drinking water, requiring buffers or setbacks from wells, wetlands and other surface waters in the district, or requiring or encouraging low-impact or no-impact storm-water management systems of any projects or improvements that are proposed in the district”.— Pioneer Valley Water Supply Protection Overlay Districts

well head protection boundary delineation Site-specific delineation efforts are required for each public water supply well field or spring. Due to resource and information constraints, the initial minimum delineation method requirements are relatively unsophisticated (for most systems, the calculated fixed radius method is appropriate). Analytical methods can provide more reliable predictions of groundwater flow than a calculated fixed radius method because they incorporate more site-specific parameters. When resources, site-specific information and technical expertise are available, water suppliers should use analytical or other sophisticated approaches to delineate their wellhead protection area boundaries as soon as practical. When translating analytical predictions to boundaries on the ground, it is important to determine whether the results correspond well with the local hydro-geologic setting. Integrating a hydro-geologic mapping component (for example, knowledge of hydro-geologic boundaries) into a model reduces the possibility of making improper assumptions about the groundwater system. Incorporating knowledge of groundwater flow divides and aquifer boundaries into the groundwater model allows more accurate understanding of groundwater flow patterns. Sophisticated analytical methods, hydro-geologic mapping, and numerical groundwater flow models allow a very site-specific approach to boundary area simulation, but require large amounts of site-specific data and technical expertise to run and interpret the model results. As a result, these types of applications are generally considerably more expensive than many of the simpler models. Detailed models are valuable tools for ongoing resource management and contingency planning and may be a wise investment for communities with available resources. —Washington State, Wellhead Protection Program,Guidance Document -June 2010

boston Agents and their Responsibility Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) primary responsibility for enforcing many of the environmental statutes and regulations of the United States. As such, the Agency is granted explicit enforcement authority in environmental statutes.

case study boston architecture conservation

Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to regulate the quantity of water withdrawn from both surface and groundwater supplies.

Boston Groundwater Trust (Non-Profit Local Organization) • Prevent the deterioration of and, where necessary, promote the restoration of, groundwater levels in the city of Boston • Protect and enhance the city’s historic neighborhoods and structures, and otherwise conserve the value of its land and buildings •Reduce surface water runoff and water pollution • Maintain public safety Issues - Supporting most buildings constructed on fill before 1920 are tall wooden pilings which are resistant to rot if they remain submerged. They begin to decay if the water table falls and exposes the wood to oxygen. The legacy of Boston’s pumping, damming and diverting of water and its paving over and tunneling under its streets, buildings and green spaces has irrevocably altered the natural flow of water above and below Boston. The sewer system diversion was only one of several suspected sources of groundwater draw down along lower Beacon Hill and in other historic Boston neighborhoods on “made land” created upon Boston’s tidal flats between the 1820s and the 1880s. Underlying the visible city is a tangled underground network of dams, railroad, highway and subway tunnels, water and sewer pipes, utility conduits, basements and parking lots. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has been pumping thousands of gallons of water per day from leaking corridor walls and diverting that water out of the neighborhood aquifers and into Boston Harbor via the sewer system. It is Boston’s non-water, subterranean infrastructure that appears to be responsible for the serious draw down of groundwater in other areas of the City. Main water source for drinking and irrigation - surface water Climate - Infrequent heavy precipitation

case study boston - architecture conservation

groundwater governance Critique – Strength- An overlay district is a common tool for establishing development restrictions, or extending development incentives, on land within a defined geographic area or characterized by specific physical features or site conditions. They gain special importance and monitoring while writing the zoning ordinance directed towards a specific goal of the region thus making it a worthwhile strategy. Weakness- The delineation of GCOD is done based on the physical urban features like historic houses that need protection and arterial roads and streets that define the neighborhood. Groundwater being a more fluid element defined by aquifer boundary and sub-surficial geology need a more deeper analysis and understanding of defining the GCOD. A through understanding of relationships with surficial resources like rivers, lakes, parks and dams need to be analyzed while delineating a protection boundary, as they are natural sites of recharging/discharging the groundwater.

groundwater governance

Zoning — “Groundwater Conservation Overlay District (Article 32) The purposes of this article are to (a) prevent the deterioration of and, where necessary, promote the restoration of, groundwater levels in the city of Boston; (b) protect and enhance the city’s historic neighborhoods and structures, and otherwise conserve the value of its land and buildings; (c) reduce surface water runoff and water pollution; and (d) maintain public safety. A Groundwater Conservation Overlay District (GCOD), a type of special purpose overlay district established pursuant to Section 3-1A, shall be potentially applicable in areas within certain downtown, Harbor Park, and neighborhood districts at risk for groundwater depletion. To designate an area as a GCOD, the following procedures shall be followed: 1. The Boston Redevelopment Authority shall make a recommendation to the Zoning Commission that a certain area within a district or neighborhood experiencing or subject to the potential of harmful groundwater depletion be designated as a GCOD to promote the purposes set forth in this article. 2. Upon a favorable recommendation by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the Zoning Commission may designate an area as a GCOD.” (—Groundwater Conservation Overlay District (GCOD), Article 32 Zoning, Boston Ground Water Trust, Http://Www.Bostongroundwater.Org/Groundwater-Conservation-Overlay-District-Gcod-Article-32-Zoning. Html)

Permits — Permitting in Boston - “Since 1988, persons planning to withdraw water from ground or surface sources for purposes in excess of an annual average of 100,000 gallons per day or 9 million gallons in any three month period must apply for a Water Management Act Permit. The following requirements should be considered when applying for a Water Management Act Permit: For year-round withdrawals, the threshold volume is 100,000 gallons per day (gpd) on average over the course of the year, or 36.5 million unregistered gallons per year. Permit conditions may include installation of meters, conservation measures, Zone II delineation for public water supply wells or safe yield determinations for public surface water supplies, the implementation of wellhead protection measures for public water supply wells, wetlands delineation and annual monitoring, withdrawal reductions during times of low stream flow, summer outdoor water use restrictions, fisheries protection measures, and plan(s) to minimize and mitigate withdrawal impacts as appropriate. Individuals can apply for non-consumptive use status if the water they use is discharged back into the water source at or near the withdrawal point, in substantially unimpaired quality and quantity.”(- Permit Requirements, Fact Sheet: Water Management Act - Registration and Permitting, https://www. mass.gov/service-details/fact-sheet-water-management-act-registration-and-permitting) Boston Water and Sewer Commission - standards and permitting requirements apply only to dry wells that will be connected to the City’s sewers to handle overflow. “Permitting in groundwater conservation overlay district (GCOD) – Applicants in the GCOD need to abide by the code and special requirements described in Zoning provision in Section 32 made for COD2. The permitting is required for - New Sites or Sites modified ‘significantly’ need to prove the

case study boston - architecture conservation

Weakness- Water Management Act Permit allows for 36.5 million unregistered gallons per year that can lead to theft and un-lawful extraction of groundwater which shall make the remaining policy and goal ineffectual. The zoning ordinance emphasizes on restrictions and requirements to be fulfilled by new or significantly modified houses that shall have less negative impact on the groundwater levels. In a historic neighborhood with majority of houses are historic with very little chance of new development, the ordinance needs to have some an additional adjustment an creative solutions that shall help historic houses adapt to the existing site condition as wells as support in maintaining groundwater levels below them.

Boston Conservation Overlay District - formulated based on sites of historic housing and limited by arterial roads and streets rain water is managed on site. Water needs to be managed on site for ground water recharge in as ‘Sustainable way’. This program is embedded in the development system with Boston Water and Sewer and Boston Development Authority as a joint stakeholder and buildings; (c) reduce surface water runoff and water pollution; and (d) maintain public safety. A Groundwater Conservation Overlay District (GCOD), a type of special purpose overlay district established pursuant to Section 3-1A, shall be potentially applicable in areas within certain downtown, Harbor Park, and neighborhood districts at risk for groundwater depletion. To designate an area as a GCOD, the following procedures shall be followed: 1. The Boston Redevelopment Authority shall make a recommendation to the Zoning Commission that a certain area within a district or neighborhood experiencing or subject to the potential of harmful groundwater depletion be designated as a GCOD in order to promote the purposes set forth in this article. 2. Upon a favorable recommendation by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the Zoning Commission may designate an area as a GCOD.” (—GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION OVERLAY DISTRICT (GCOD), ARTICLE 32 ZONING, http://www.bostongroundwater.org/groundwater-conservation-overlay-district-gcod-article-32-zoning.html)

Critique – Strength - Strict permitting permissions followed up by monitoring meters and quality reports are very efficient strategy to control groundwater levels and quality, however the delineation of Zone II and Groundwater Conservation Overlay District is arguable.

Importance/Value — “The Massachusetts Colonial Ordinances of 1641-1647 which promoted - ‘warfing-in’ policy that promoted commerce. The laws allowed any coastal land owner to fill in wetlands adjacent to his land and then take title to the “made land” which could extend out to the low tide line or 1650 feet from the high tide line which ever was shorter. Absolute Ownership Rule’ - groundwater is the sole property of the owner of the surface land above it with no limits on removal and no liability for polluting groundwater. If pumping groundwater from one’s own land depletes the water levels below a neighbor’s property, even if the intent is “malicious” no damages can be assessed. Only “intentional well poisoning” is subject to prosecution. The Water Management Act (1985) regulates groundwater withdrawals. Currently, users that are withdrawing more than 100,000 gallons per day must register with the state. The Act also gives the Department of Environmental Protection authority, yet in-exercised, to regulate smaller volumes of water. A regulatory permitting policy is formed to measure and check the groundwater withdrawals across the region.” (http://www.bostongroundwater.org/ uploads/2/0/5/1/20517842/bostons_groundwater_crisis_seeking_sound_water_policies_in_ an_unnatural_watershed.pdf) In 1999, the Groundwater Trust began to uncover the WPA wells that could still be used, which numbered roughly 150. These wells formed the base of the Boston Groundwater Trust’s monitoring network until 2003, when a Commonwealth Environmental Bond Bill infused the Groundwater Trust with $1.6 million dollars, which financed the digging of 500 new wells.6 Today, the Boston Groundwater Trust monitors 671 groundwater wells throughout the city and plans to increase the number of dry wells in the city to over 800 by the end of the year. Once complete, this extensive monitoring well network will be able to measure the ebbs and flows of groundwater in Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Bay Village, Chinatown, the South End, the North End, East Boston, and the Fenway. (- 2.2.1 City Efforts, 2. Maintaining Groundwater at Safe Levels, Groundwater Decline and the Preservation of Property in Boston)

case study boston - architecture conservation

Critique – Strength – From the policy of ‘Warfing and ‘Absolute ownership Rule’ the Water Management Act has learned better to value groundwater beyond economic benefit by investing in its mapping and conservancy that shall eventually better inform planners and developers to adapt to groundwater fluctuations and respond to climate change. Weakness - Private wharves along the harbor contributed to the inexorable destruction of Boston’s extensive salt marshes and tidal flats. As these water management laws exempt existing uses from regulation, many large volume withdrawals continue, depleting surface and groundwater supplies across the state. Mapping – “Millions of dollars have been spent digging wells into the ground - now a much smaller investment needs to be made in order compile the data into useful information. The Groundwater Trust has amassed vast quantities of raw data from well readings. Previous investigations have shown that pumping groundwater in one location can have an effect on groundwater levels one mile away. The Environment Department has engaged the volunteer efforts of civil engineering professors, specialists in groundwater flows at MIT, to take a broad investigative approach to Central Boston’s groundwater problem. Currently Professor Charles Harvey, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, is supervising student projects. One student is mapping groundwater flow to make predictions as to infiltration; he has created a GIS database mostly from Groundwater Trust data to compare these maps to rainfall records. Many students are looking at chemical and biological processes in wood pile rot and investigating solutions that might protect wood support piles and investigating ground penetrating radar to see if it’s possible to ascertain the water table levels without having to dig. Boston Water and Sewer Commission has supported the Trust as it planned sites for groundwater monitoring by providing access to its GIS maps of underground structures.” (- 2.2.2 City-State Working Group2. Maintaining Groundwater at Safe Levels, Groundwater Decline and the Preservation of Property in Boston) Critique – Strength – Mapping the flow to understand infiltration and recharge is a critical step to evaluating the policies and strategies laid out to maintain groundwater levels across the city. Weakness - Well reading data is publicly available and sorted by well, only indicate groundwater levels at points. For all of this data to have a real impact, the water level between the points needs to be extrapolated into a full contour map of groundwater flows in the city. More extensive mapping is needed of well data. Several layers of information should be included on maps that are released to the public, including groundwater contours, locations of sewers and deep basements, well locations, and groundwater depths. If all of this information is presented in a graphically coherent

case study boston - architecture conservation

fashion, then there are multiple active residents within each neighborhood who possess professional expertise that would enable them to accurately interpret the maps. Better mapping would reduce the need to dig costly test pits and provide critical feedback about the effects of recharge systems (or other interventions) that are implemented locally. Water Transfer — Groundwater was never physically transferred in Boston either from rivers to groundwater or vice versa. It was more over lost in leaks and pumping. “Boston constructed its first subway in 1897 tunneling one half mile from Park Street under the Boston Common to Boylston St. As the lines and stations multiplied, tunnels crisscrossed the filled areas of Boston. Early tunnels were supported by wood piles subject to the same settling problems as water conduits. When cracks develop in a transportation tunnels (subway, intercity rail line, automobile underpass or highway tunnel), water leaks in and the pumps come out, drawing down groundwater in adjacent areas.” (—Boston’s Groundwater Crisis: Seeking Sound Water Policies in an Unnatural Watershed by Janice S. Snow ) The Marginal Conduit has been the cause of catastrophic lowering of groundwater in the Beacon Hill Flats. Constructed in 1910 as part of the Charles River Dam project, the Marginal Conduit was designed to catch overflow from the West Side Interceptor and Stony Brook. In later years, pipes were placed beneath the Marginal Conduit to reduce the dam effect and carry groundwater from one side of the structure to the other. Subsequent groundwater drops in the areas indicate that the siphons have been unsuccessful in their efforts to stem the fall of groundwater in the area. (- 1.3.2 Dams, 1.3 Tracking Sources of Groundwater Loss, Groundwater Decline and the Preservation of Property in Boston) Critique – Strength – It is positive to see that no large infrastructure project like the North South water transportation project in China is proposed to recharge the groundwater levels in Boston. Weakness – The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), has been pumping thousands of gallons of water per day from leaking corridor walls and diverting that water out of the neighborhood aquifers and into Boston Harbor via the sewer system. They must see water management as a community-wide issue as well and one they must own when they discover leaks in their tunnels. An investigation from State could lead to the root cause of groundwater depletion along the transportation routes in Boston.

case study boston - architecture conservation

Governance Structure—“United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - was established on December 2, 1970 to consolidate in one agency a variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection. Since its inception, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people. (www.EPA.gov) The Boston Groundwater Trust (The Trust) is the one public entity whose only mission is to focus on groundwater levels in Boston. Its “Declaration of Trust” requires it to monitor conditions that may threaten buildings supported on wooden piles and based on that knowledge recommend solutions to the City. The volunteer members of the Trust, all appointed by the Mayor of Boston, represented the dominant neighborhood and business groups in the threatened areas: the Back Bay Civic Association, the Neighborhood Association of Back Bay, the Fenway Community Development Corporation and the Greater Boston Real Estate Board. The Environment Department mission as defined on its web site is “to protect [Boston’s] built and natural environments and provide information on environmental issues affecting Boston.” Those “environments” include, “ Boston’s wealth of historic sites, buildings, landscapes, and waterways through protective designation and review.” The Department is involved in all Environmental Review processes in the City. (City of Boston Environment Department Web site http://www.cityofboston.gov/Environment/default.asp) The Boston Water and Sewer Reorganization Act of 1977 (the Enabling Act) transferred control of Boston’s water and sewer system from the City of Boston’s Department of Public Works (DPW) to a new Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC) overseen by a three-member Board of ommissioners (the “Board”) appointed by the Mayor. BWSC’s primary responsibility is the “provision of high quality reliable water, sewer and drainage services along its 1,021 miles of pipe to Boston customers” while “ensuring the sound, economical and efficient maintenance of the System.” The legal structure of BWSC enabled Boston to move the cost of repairing Boston’s antiquated and leaking water supply and waste water system off the City’s books. The Commission issues its own bonds to fund repairs and improvements. The Act required the Commission to prepare a three-year infrastructure repair plan. (http://www.bwsc.org/home/home.asp) Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) projects. MWRA delivers Quabbin Reservoir water to the Boston system and removes Boston’s waste water to the MWRA’s treatment plant on Deer Island. (website http://www.mwra. com) Boston Inspection Services Department (ISD) has powers to investigate and to order repairs and if necessary condemn unsafe buildings conflicts with a trustee’s responsibility to collaborate with citizens to monitor groundwater and propose solutions. As a result the Trusty has 9 rather than 10 voting members and lacks the expertise and institutional history ISD could bring to the Trust. Boston Inspection Services Department (ISD) has powers to investigate and to order repairs and if necessary condemn unsafe buildings conflicts with a trustee’s responsibility to collaborate with citizens to monitor groundwater and propose solutions. As a result the Trusty has 9 rather than 10 voting members and lacks the expertise and institutional history ISD could bring to the Trust.

case study boston - architecture conservation

Executive Office of Environmental Affairs “Striking the balance between using the water that we need and leaving the water to sustain our natural environment is the goal of Executive Office of Environmental Affairs’ water policies” according to its web site.” (-City of Boston Inspection Services Department and the Groundwater Trust. Report on Groundwater Observation Wells; 1990 Apr. Prepared by Stone and Webster Civil and Transportation Services, Inc., Boston, MA) “A memorandum of understanding (MOU), a collaboration with several city and state agencies including the state Office of Commonwealth Development, the Boston Groundwater Trust, the MBTA, Mass Turnpike Authority and Boston Water and Sewer, among others was signed to have formalized a working relationship among the agencies and share data and cooperation in future projects.” (-Mayor Menino Announces Groundwater Overlay District and EPA Grant, https://www.cityofboston.gov/news/Default.aspx?id=2818)

Critique – Strength – The signing of MOU among all agencies and the collaboration between Boston Ground Water Trust and Boston Sewer Commission show a hopeful beginning to a stronger groundwater governance in progress. . Weakness – There is still lacking full corporation among all agencies in spite of signing the MOU. The MBTA and Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (also responsible for the Big Dig) do not participate and support initiatives taken by the Environment Department and Groundwater Trust. They seem to prioritize infrastructure development over groundwater management as seen the case in all other countries where groundwater management is seen to be insignificant and invisible. A stronger state and federal effort is required to focus on this issue and assist the local agencies.

Source i)Boston’s Groundwater Crisis: Seeking Sound Water Policies in an Unnatural Watershed by Janice S. Snow, Environmental Policy Research Department of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy and Planning Tufts University ii) Boston groundwater Trust (http://www.bostongroundwater.org) iii) Fact Sheet: Water Management Act - Registration and Permitting (www.mass.gov) iv) EPA - Policy & Guidance (www.epa.gov) v) Water Systems Council. Who Owns the Water: A Summary of Existing Water Rights Law vi) op. cit. A Krieger and D. Cobb. p.119

learnings from case study - conclusion The Comparative evaluation draws on country level experience in implementing global approaches to groundwater governance. This comprises in-depth case studies from five countries: Jordan, Yemen, Britain, China and Boston. All of these have a varying geographies, social, political, economical and cultural structures with one common issue — Groundwater governance. The lesson is that governance is not “one size fits all” and and hence approaches need to be selected in the light of local conditions and experience.

evaluation governance chart proposed governance

A rights and regulation approach is the one where the regions like Boston and Britain, that have good budgeting and administration in place for the governance. It is where the governance awards (or recognizes) legal water rights to users and then relies on a regulatory system to ensure that users are respecting the terms of the award. An incentives-based approach uses positive and negative incentives (typically incentives that affect the profitability of water use) to bring pumping behavior at the well head into line with policy. This is also more applicable in regions where the right to water and the responsibility to manage that resource is given to well defined government structure. Systems based on top down regulations have often run into problems of compliance. This is the case, for example, in Jordan,Yemen and China, where the level of compliance with existing regulations is relatively low. In regions like these with little trust on the government policies and where large numbers of small users are involved, incentives and subsidiarity approaches may be the most indicated, particularly collective management approaches. In these cases, the rights and regulation approach may be applied only to larger users, and responsibility for management among small-scale users might be delegated to collective governance arrangements, with informal water rights are recognized.

implimented governance

Subsidiarity method has proved to be working better in developing countries like Yemen Jordan, India, Africa and Peru with multiple small users that hold the responsibility for management to the lowest feasible level. The nature of groundwater and the way in which it has been developed to date may make local management highly indicated. There has always been my concern of how subsidiary method of governance may lead to fragmented management of the aquifer and that may not be a sustainable practice but it seems that when groundwater resources management is made up of the behavior of numerous individual wells, all of which share common resources. Changing management requires changing the behavior of all wells, and this is most easily done at the aquifer level and below where the wells are few enough that they can be regulated as a group within a discrete hydrological unit. Many examples where subsidiarity and collective management have proved superior to regulatory approaches, often in partnership between local government agencies and user groups. Although this is arguable and may vary based on cultural and social behavior of the region, but when the responsibility is directed to someone who directly benefits from the good governance of resource shall prove to be more efficient then the higher regulatory governance method.

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