Hydrology.nl • Portal to international hydrology and water resources
Groundwater around the world – free download

The book »Groundwater around the world« presents a unique and up-to-date summary of what is known about groundwater on our planet, from a global perspective and in terms of area-specific factual information. Unlike most textbooks on groundwater, it does not deal with theoretical principles, but rather with the overall picture that emerges as a result of countless observations, studies and other activities related to groundwater in all parts of the world. The focus is on showing the role and geographical diversity of groundwater—a natural resource of great importance in daily life, but poorly understood by the general public and even by many water sector professionals. As a result of a cooperation between author Jac van der Gun and Michael van der Valk | Hydrology.nl the book is now available as a free PDF file!

 
US stream flows reduced by groundwater pumping

Groundwater pumping has caused marked aquifer storage declines over the past century. In addition to threatening the viability of groundwater-dependent economic activities, storage losses reshape the hydrologic landscape, shifting groundwater surface water exchanges and surface water availability. A more comprehensive understanding of modern groundwater-depleted systems is needed as we strive for improved simulations and more efficient water resources management. Here, the authors of a new paper in Science begin to address this gap by evaluating the impact of 100 years of groundwater declines across the continental United States on simulated watershed behavior. Subsurface storage losses reverberate throughout hydrologic systems, decreasing streamflow and evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration declines are focused in water-limited periods and shallow groundwater regions. Streamflow losses are widespread and intensify along drainage networks, often occurring far from the point of groundwater abstraction. Their integrated approach illustrates the sensitivity of land surface simulations to groundwater storage levels and a path toward evaluating these connections in large-scale models. 

 
Strategic use of groundwater-based solutions for drought risk reduction and climate resilience in Asia and beyond

Groundwater is a de-facto source of water during drought and emergencies. In a broader perspective, the traditional short-term strategy of using groundwater to combat water deficits during drought needs revisiting. The objective of a new paper is to examine the relevance and options for developing and adopting such groundwater-based natural infrastructure solutions in DRR strategies. While addressing emergency situations, such solutions may also serve to enhance the sustainable use and management of groundwater as a strategic resource for long-term drought risk reduction as well as enhancing the resilience of farming systems and groundwater dependent cities and natural ecosystems. 

 
Analysis and Remediation of the Salinized, Damour Coastal (Dolomitic) Limestone Aquifer in Lebanon • PhD thesis

Coastal aquifer management has recently emerged as a main scope in groundwater hydrology, especially in arid and semi-arid zones. About two thirds of the human population are currently gathered close to shorelines relying on coastal groundwater resources. Worldwide, these systems are subject to quality deterioration due to a multitude of anthropogenic impacts and subsequent saltwater intrusion (SWI). Many hydrological and hydrochemical features of SWI have been disclosed during the past century through numerous case studies, column studies, scale models, flow and reactive transport modeling. Yet, many scientific and engineering challenges remain, some of which need to be addressed for a better prospecting of future coastal freshwater reserves. The PhD thesis of Wisam Khadra describes and in-depth study.

 
Angela Renata Cordeiro Ortigara: make better use of water data

With less and less people on the ground, and less and less ground truth and real data on water – be it quality, levels or discharges – more and more policy and statements are being made that are unsupported by reality. Researchers and UN organizations such as WMO keep stressing the need for better (use of) data by decision-makers in order to prevent that ‘measures’ that have lost a connection with reality. Data, implementation of SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation for all), and linking with everyday needs of the communities are key issues, according to Dr Angela Renata Cordeiro Ortigara.

 
Water legislation in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine under transformation

Water legislation in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine is under transformation from Soviet to EU environmental standards. This shift requires significant changes in the terminology, structure and content of water laws. At present, the main shortcomings of the water legislation of the three countries and its practical implementation are: (1) fragmentation of water legislation, which translates into poorly defined responsibilities; (2) significant discrepancies between different laws on property rights and the responsibilities of natural resource users; and (3) outdated water quality standards. A new paper by Yuliya Vystavna, Maryna Cherkashyna and Michael van der Valk describes the changes needed to transform the water legislation in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine from Soviet to EU environmental standards. 

 
Bridging the floods − The role of social learning for resilience building in urban water services

The development of cities is increasingly threatened by a worldwide water crisis. Urban water services (including drinking water, sanitation and drainage) are facing complex and multiple pressures, which are becoming increasingly frequent and severe. These pressures include floods, and the depletion, pollution and degradation of water resources and their associated ecosystems. These diverse pressures fall mainly within the domains of flood risk and water resources management: two working fields that are divided by different institutional structures, approaches and practices. Social learning is becoming increasingly popular as an approach that has the potential to “bridge” these silos, and ultimately, contribute to building resilience in urban water services. However, empirical analyses on this issue are rare and fragmented. In her PhD thesis, Åse Johannessen fills this gap. Her results identify challenges to the integration of the identified silos, what resilience means for urban water services, and the key elements of social learning that can support or inhibit urban water resilience.

 
Soluciones Basadas en la Naturaleza para la gestión del agua en España

A new report about nature-based water management solutions in Spain shows that natural infrastructure can a cost-effective the basis for water security. It consolidates recommendations and provides a sound basis for moving forward with scaling up nature-based solutions for water security in Spain. Ensuring water security is a complex, although not intractable challenge, that is too large for any single institution to take on: it calls for collective action with the participation of public and private sector, as well as local, national, multilateral and civil society organizations and individuals.

 
Decision Making under Deep Uncertainty

This book focuses on both the theory and practice associated with the tools and approaches for decision-making in the face of deep uncertainty. It explores approaches and tools supporting the design of strategic plans under deep uncertainty, and their testing in the real world, including barriers and enablers for their use in practice. The book broadens traditional approaches and tools to include the analysis of actors and networks related to the problem at hand. It also shows how lessons learned in the application process can be used to improve the approaches and tools used in the design process.

 
Freshwater Governance for the 21st Century – free book

Freshwater Governance for the 21st Century contains information that many practitioners in the water field will be looking for. The water-related challenges have reached a climax with an unoptimistic future expected to feature more competition between users. These stresses will be exacerbated by climate change which is likely to increase water demand while shrinking water supplies. Intense competition for water resources will be experienced not only by private users but will also affect the public sector; however, national plans repeatedly fail to show the ability to provide a coherent outlook for development in which water needs are adequately projected and resources smartly shared. 

 
More Articles...
« StartPrev12345678910NextEnd »