Groundwater Resources Management

Water has always been an abundant resource, however, today it is affected by salinity and chemical deposits contributed by human activities, which makes its large portion unusable by households and industries. According to Sophocleous (2011), groundwater is the main source of fresh water, that is utilised by many households and the industries (1). Care must, therefore, be taken to ensure that the human activities do not contaminate the available water. Furthermore, the groundwater must be protected to ensure that its use is constructive and economically beneficial to all worlds ecosystems. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that the available water is properly utilised to avoid pollution and depletion of the underground reservoirs. Most of the underground water is renewable. However, there is nonrenewable underground water reservoir as well. They are the water storage areas that take quite a long time to replenish compared to human life expectancy. Therefore, these nonrenewable underground storages must be treated with lots of care to ensure that they are not fully depleted. 

Justification of Research

Groundwater has been the major source of fresh water for most of the households and industries (Sophocleous, 2011, p1). However, the availability of groundwater is significantly affected by the human activities today. For the nonrenewable sources of groundwater, excessive withdrawal may lead to their depletion. Therefore, it is important to study different groundwater management practices to develop the best ways of treatment for the available sources. This research is aimed to study and compare different groundwater management practices used by various countries both in the past and today.

Methodology

The research was mainly done through reviewing the available literature data on groundwater management to synthesise the different management practices addressed during the previous research.

Literature Review

Underground water was underutilized in the past due to the abundant rainwater that was witnessed due to conducive climatic conditions. According to Sophocleous (2011), the underground water is present quite close to the earth’s crust due to rainfalls as the primary contributors to its reservoirs (2). Underground water utilisation has also been minimal due to the abundance of rainwater. However, climate changes have been witnessed all over the world, leading to low rains and drying of the available water resources, such as rivers. Rome (2009) argues that the world population has increased tremendously, leading to an increased demand for natural resources, including water (3). Therefore, the available surface water cannot fully sustain the current human activities, leading to an increased exploration of the groundwater and depeltion of this resource.

There has always been a correlation between the amounts of available underground water and surface water. According to Sophocleous (2010), in most cases, surface water flows into the underground reservoirs (560). When surface water is used, it often flows underground into the water tables, leading to the renewal of underground sources. However, Sophocleous (2010) further notes that groundwater also shifts from one reservoir to another, depending on availability of spaces within the reservoir, cracks, or underground streams, that the water can flow through (560). Therefore, drawing underground water from some source may affect their neighbouring ones, due to unlimited flow of water between its reservoirs. It also means that pollutants can also flow between water reservoirs. Management of groundwater should, therefore, be essential for the entire human population.

Groundwater has always been of great importance to all the living organisms in the world. According to Karachian et al. (2009), numerous animals depend on groundwater for survival (676). Plants also obtain most water in the form of groundwater, while humans use these water sources for various activities, as well as the ones essential for survival. Reduction in water supply may be a serious problem, arising from the depletion of this essential natural resource. According to Rome (2009), groundwater is used for irrigation in most of the arid and semiarid areas, where it is the only accessible water source (1). Therefore, it is also essential to regulate the types of crops and the irrigation methods applied in such areas. According to Rome (2009), the irrigation techniques should be efficient and economical to ensure that groundwater use is minimised (4). Thus, numerous factors should be taken into consideration, when developing a plan for the management of water sources.

Groundwater is classified into two main categories: renewable and non-renewable. According to Gerlark et al. (2013), renewable groundwater is water reservoirs that are replenished within short time (1), which makes it difficult to deplete. Nonrenewable groundwater is the reservoirs that are replenished at slow rate over a long period. The nonrenewable groundwater can take more than one thousand years to be replenished. Groundwater can also be classified as fissile water. Rome (2009) states that fossil water is the groundwater reservoir that was filled many years ago (4). Most of these types of groundwater are nonrenewable, as they are present in the semi-arid and arid areas. Fossil waters are mainly explored in these regions to provide fresh water to industries and households.

Discussion

Groundwater management has been of great importance to all countries. According to Kerachian et al. (2009), groundwater management policies aim to ensure that the use of groundwater is beneficial economically, politically, and environmentally (676). Therefore, its exploitation should be performed under conditions, which contribute to net benefit today and in future. However, Kerachian (2009) states that due to varying stakeholders involved in the policy-making process, the conflict of interests may arise and pose a serious problem (673). Coming up with a uniform policy to ensure that groundwater resources are properly utilized may be quite challenging for policymakers. Therefore, development of unifying water management policies is a serious problem for any country.

Groundwater is affected by pollution. As the water moves from the earth surface into the ground, it carries pollutants found on the earth’s surface and within soil. Groundwater can also accumulate substances from the atmosphere, mainly when polluted rainwater flows into the reservoir. These pollutants are produced during different human activities, such as farming and industry. Therefore, the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater should be considered during the policy-making process to ensure that water available for human consumption is safe and reliable. According to Kerachian (2009), wastewater that reaches the groundwater aquifers should be controlled for contents, and it should be safe for human beings and animals (675). Groundwater expected to be used for consumption should, therefore, be monitored to ensure that it does not contain harmful materials.

Due to climate changes, Saudi Arabia mainly depends on water sources, which have accumulated formed many years ago. Most of the surface sources of fresh water slowly dry up. The rapid increase in population also prompted the government to encourage irrigation to ensure the country had enough food for the entire population (Rome, 2009). Therefore, it encouraged cultivation of different crops through the provision of incentives and uncultivated land (5). According to Rome (2009), due to the arid nature of the country, most of the farms had to be irrigated with the fossil water that was abundant in the region (5). The government, therefore, reduced the cost of pumping water from the ground to ensure that the cost of irrigation was minimised for the farmers, who followed the green policies. Therefore, most households used groundwater, and in many farms it was applied for both commercial and domestic use.

In Saudi Arabia, most of the large-scale farms use the latest irrigation technologies. According to Rome (2009), the applied methods are aimed to ensure that the plants are irrigated with the proper amount of water (9). However, these technologies do not ensure efficient use of groundwater. Some of the large-scale farmers are not willing to acquire the most efficient technologies to ensure that groundwater is preserved. According to Rome (2009), the government has therefore taken the initiative to ensure that the production of crops that require higher amounts of water for their growth, is reduced (10). This policy seeks to ensure that groundwater is preserved.

Saudi Arabia initially did not have clear policies ensuring that the available groundwater is properly managed to avoid various problems that may arise. According to Rome (2009), most of the large farms, which were established due to the incentives of government, but did not perform proper evaluation of groundwater availability, ran out of the accessible water at some point. Underground water in these areas had been depleted, and some of the farmers had to abandon their business, because it was financially inefficient to continue cultivation. Rome (2009) states that different studies were done to come up with the best way to manage groundwater depletion and to ensure that its availability is sustainable (4). The government encouraged different farmers to cultivate crops that required less water, such as fruits, by providing their subsidies to the farmers. Therefore, the government of Saudi Arabia tries to manage groundwater sources through incentives and policies. However, according to Rome (2009), the suggested policies are largely unsuccessful due to poor enforcement (10). Therefore, stricter legislative base should be formed in order to manage the existing problems.

In the USA, groundwater is considered to be a personal property, which is protected by law. According to Gerlark et al. (2013), groundwater policies are mainly developed by individual states (1), which leads to their significant variation between states. The National government is only involved, when there is a conflict between states or upon a request by the particular state. However, according to Gerlark et al. (2013), five main policies are common for all states (2). Absolute ownership policy states that the owner of the land has the exclusive right to handle groundwater beneath the land. This policy may not be effective, because groundwater can flow between its sources. Reasonable use policy states that an individual is allowed to draw and use groundwater as long as it is reasonable. The improved version of this policy states that landowner can withdraw groundwater as long as it does not interfere with the neighbour’s and other water bodies, which is a more reasonable approach allowing for higher level of conservation. Correlative rights policy states that the right to use groundwater depends on the rights of the other users. Prior appropriation policy states that the first person to utilise groundwater has the exclusive rights for water.

In the USA, the groundwater policies are mature and ensure the efficient groundwater management. According to Gerlak et al. (2013), groundwater policies in the USA are enforced by the local authorities, which makes them effective (7). The states strive to provide a proper groundwater management education to all citizens, which ensures their participation in the conservation of this valuable resource. Different states use different groundwater management strategies, such metering, issuance of permits, planning, and protecting some areas from exploitation. Jackson et al. (2015) state that different aspects of groundwater conservation are also monitored to ensure that they meet the required standards (1874). Therefore, the USA policies related to groundwater management are more mature and elaborate.

Comparing groundwater management practices used in Saudi Arabia and the USA, reveals more elaborate and efficient monitoring practices in the USA. According to Gerlark et al. (2013), groundwater in the USA is monitored by different authorities at the state level. Therefore, this resource can be efficiently managed (7). According to Rome (2009), groundwater management policies adopted by the Saudi Arabian government are largely unsuccessful (3). They are mainly developed by the central government, as opposed to the USA, where groundwater management policies are established at the states level, facilitating the implementation of the policies. Saudi Arabia mainly focuses on the governmental incentives to manage groundwater, as opposed to the USA, where groundwater is mainly managed through metering, license issuance, and other strategies.

In the past, there were frequent rains, and rainwater was enough for different activities. Groundwater management was of less concern to different stakeholder, as it was largely left to an individual’s ability and wish. According to Karachian (2009), inadequate research in the field of groundwater complicates analysis of the effects of human activities on this resource, and thus, leads to inappropriate understanding by different policy-makers (674). Therefore, groundwater management and exploration were not considered by many industries and the households. However, with the increase in the rate of pollution and depletion of surface water, there was a need to explore groundwater. According to Stephens (2016), current water management plans incorporate the sustainable groundwater management and ensure that the practice is technologically and economically efficient (1). The current water management systems are capable of managing groundwater inflows and outflows to provide the relevant information. The management system further computes the expected changes in groundwater amounts and composition to avoid undesirable effects in the future (Stephens, 2016). Therefore, the current groundwater management system is aimed to reduce pollution of groundwater (2). Recent increase in human population resulted in higher demand for water, hence the policies to control groundwater usage have been developed to ensure that this resource is not depleted.

Conclusion

Groundwater is one of the major sources of fresh water. Therefore, many households and industries depend on it for different activities. Protecting groundwater reservoir is important to ensure that this resource is preserved and properly utilised. Groundwater should be managed efficiently in a manner ensuring that the available water is not misused. Contamination of groundwater should be avoided to ensure that it is does not harm living things. The legislative body of every country should formulate laws, which ensure that exploitation of groundwater is beneficial for all species. These laws should not be just formulated, but also enforced to ensure that the available groundwater laws make impact on how this resource is managed in the country. If the laws are properly formulated and enforced, the groundwater availability can be guaranteed for the future generations. The government and the public should ensure that appropriate technology is used in exploitation and usage of groundwater. The chosen technology should not contribute to pollution or wasting of the available water.