Reallocating Water Resources in the Middle East through Market Mechanisms

The growing demand for water by countries in the eastern Mediterranean raises the need to explore ways and means to ameliorate water scarcity. Economists have for some time proposed methods of more efficient exploitation of existing water supplies. Specifically, by employing m arket incentive mechanisms to encou rage voluntary water sharing among countries and regions is likely to lead to greater efficiency in water utilization. This paper explores the efficiency gains associated with re-allocating fresh water resources in the eastern Mediterranean through water rights markets. The results suggest that all parties involved might benefit to a greater or lesser degree from trading in water rights.     

Interstate and International Competition for Groundwater Resources: Revisiting A Groundwater Management Issue 15 Years Later

Abstract

During the 1970s and 1980s a great deal of attention was focused on changes in federalstate relations over the management of water resources. Some felt the prospects for increased federal involvement in groundwater management was likely. A survey of interstate and international competition for groundwater resources in the contiguous 48 states conducted in 1985 found significant areas of competition for water resources. This article presents the results of an updated survey conducted in 2000 and summarizes the current state of competition between states for groundwater and examines the likelihood of increased federal involvement in the management of those resources.     

Transboundary Groundwater Resources of the West Bank

The political boundaries between the Palestinian and Israelismake the water issues critical and sensitive. Groundwater is theprimary source for the Palestinian in the West Bank. Although, there are many studies on the shared surface resources (Jordan River Basin), there are few studies on the groundwater shared resources between the Palestinians and Israelis.There are three primary groundwater basins underlying the West Bank (Eastern, Northeastern and Western Basins) as shown in Figure 1. Both the Northeastern and Western basins are shared between Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestinians have a limited access to the Northeastern Basin and strictly limited access to the Western Basin. In addition to the quantity of available water resources, thequality of water is emerging as a critical issue. Threats to ground water quality include disposal of untreated wastewater, increasing salinity due to agricultural activities and intrusion of native groundwater of poor quality. Widespread use of herbicides and pesticides also represent a threat to drinking water supplies.The Declaration of Principles, signed in Washington D.C in 1993,was a major step toward resolution of the political conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. However, the water issue is part of the final status negotiations, which still unresolved.As resolution to political conflict is pursued, it is clear that water resources management issues remain at the forefront becauseof the transboundary nature of the hydrologic regime. Cooperative management on the technical level appears to be the only alternative to further conflict and degradation of the region's scare water resources. This article will study the impact of the transboundary resources on both sides and explore some of the most significant groundwater management issues facing both the Palestinians and Israelis.     

镇赉县地下水资源可持续研究

通过对镇赉县地下水资源开发利用供需平衡分析研究,探讨镇赉县地下水资源可持续利用的途径。     

淮北市地下水资源可持续利用

介绍了淮北市水环境基本情况,分析了该市的水资源利用现状及目前存在问题,包括地下水利用不合理、水污染导致生态环境恶化、水资源浪费严重及监管水平低下,最后提出对策有效利用水资源来保障淮北市经济社会可持续发展。     

延边地区地下水资源调查及现状研究

分析了延边地区地下水资源开采利用情况和地下水资源现状以及分布特点，为延边地区地下水资源开发利用提供科学依据。     

太原市地下水资源现状分析及评价

为促进水资源可持续利用,使水价管理科学化、技术化、市场化,必须遵循水商品的价值规律与市场供求规律,逐步建立激励节约用水和高效用水的水价与市场机制。介绍了太原市基本情况,从浅层地下水、深层地下水、岩溶水三方面分析了太原市地下水资源的动态特征,并对其利用现状进行了合理评价。     

Sustainability of Groundwater Resources in the North-Eastern Region of Bangladesh

Water is essential for economic, social, and environmental development. Global water resources are vulnerable due to increasing demand related to population growth, pollution potential, and climate change. Competition for water between different sectors is increasing. To meet the increasing demand, the use of groundwater is increasing worldwide. In this paper, the water-table dynamics of the north-eastern region of Bangladesh were studied using the MEKESENS software. This study reveals that the depth to water-table (WT) of almost all the wells is declining slowly. In many cases, the depth will approximately double by the year 2040, and almost all will double by 2060, if the present trend continues. If the decline of the water-table is allowed to continue in the long run, the result could be a serious threat to the ecology and to the sustainability of food production, which is vital for the nation’s food security. Therefore, necessary measures should be taken to sustain water resources and thereby agricultural production. Demand-side management of water and the development of alternative surface water sources seem to be viable strategies for the area. These strategies could be employed to reduce pressure on groundwater and thus maintain the sustainability of the resource.     

冀东平原农业节水技术及地下水响应

以唐山农业灌溉节水项目区为例,通过分析5年来的地下水监测数据,显示项目区地下水开采强度变化除受降雨量影响外,农业节水灌溉项目区地下水开采强度均明显小于非项目对比区,减少了地下水的开采量,使地下水超采问题得到缓解.随着农业灌溉用水量减少,农业灌溉引起的区域性地下水位下降趋势也得到缓解,节水效应明显.可以看出,实行工程节水, 农艺节水, 作物节水和管理节水等多种途经并举可以达到农业灌溉节水的效果.同时提出了加大工程设施建设力度,建立完善的蓄水回灌体系,利用再生水灌溉等科学调控地下水灌溉建议.     

Groundwater Resources in Lebanon: A Vulnerability Assessment

This paper presents a regional groundwater vulnerability assessment for Lebanon using the DRASTIC model coupled with a GIS‐based framework to prioritize protection efforts, whereby the most vulnerable areas to groundwater are targeted first, thus optimizing the allocation of financial and human resources. The objective of the study is to initiate a systematic approach to better manage and protect the country's groundwater resources.     

Legal Frameworks Governing Water in the Middle East and North Africa

For millennia, countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have developed laws, regulations and other rules to govern their scarce water. These laws have been updated in recent years. This review of the legal frameworks (including regulations, decrees and other rules) reveals both progress and gaps in managing water quality, water quantity and procedural aspects. Of note, while the general frameworks are usually in place, in many instances the necessary details are lacking to give effect to the goals. However, in some instances the legal frameworks governing water lack certain key principles or approaches. In order to effectively meet the growing demands on their water resources, MENA countries will need to further strengthen and develop their legal frameworks.     

Groundwater in Water Resources Planning: Conjunctive Use

ABSTRACT

Many water resources planning specialists underrate or overlook groundwater resources. In many cases, the reasons which are usually expressed belie a lack of confidence in their potential and in the ability of today's technology to predict their behavior. The area occupied by aquifers and the fact that they account for 30% of stream discharges, are strong arguments in favor of utilizinggroundwater resources. Likewise, with present groundwater evaluation techniques and the availability of models and simulation methods, the impact of long-term groundwater exploitation can be evaluated with as great a degree of accuracy as the methods used for surface water. Very often groundwater resources are economically more favorable than surface water; however, in regions where water resources are scarce, the problem should not be one of competition but collaboration. The correct approach is the conjunctive use of surface and groundwater resources. Through conjunctive use additional water resources can be obtained, additional means of water storage, distribution and treatment can be made available, as well as achieving greater efficiency in water resources system management.     

Management of Groundwater Resources in Eastern Saudi Arabia

Effective management of groundwater in arid countries, such as Saudi Arabia, is an important factor in sustainable development. A regional numerical simulation model of a multi-aquifer system including the Dammam and Umm Er Radhuma (UER) aquifers was developed to assess the behaviour of the aquifer system under long-term water stresses. The model was utilized to predict the responses of the aquifer system under three alternative pumping schemes over a planning horizon of 31 years (1995-2025). Model results postulate that dewatering of the Dammam aquifer will occur at low productivity sites and along the outcrop with the current trend towards increasing abstraction. The UER will exhibit significant cones of depression at large irrigation projects. Aquifer dewatering and drawdowns will be minimal with the conservation alternative. This management scheme should be adopted for the future development and protection of groundwater in the province.     

湘阴县地下水资源保护的成效与经验

文章简要介绍了湘阴县水资源开发利用现状以及封闭生产企业自备水井改变用水方式的工作措施,总结和分析了改非生活性用水由地下水向地表水转变所取得的成果和产生的效应,并提出建立健全水资源长效管理机制的建议。     

中国地下水资源的开发利用与保护

地下水与地表水关系密切,作为水资源的重要组成部分,其数量受赋存条件的限制,随时间变化相对稳定,这是地下水的重要特性.地下水是我国北方地区及许多城市的重要供水水源,对当地经济社会的发展起着十分重要的作用.近二十年来,随着经济社会的快速发展,地下水的开采量剧增,带来了一系列问题.1地下水资源及其分布特点水文气象、地形地貌、地质构造及水文地质条件是地下水形成的基础,也是决定地下水资源分布特征的基本条件.我国南方和北方的地下水资源分布特征有较大的差异.1.1地下水资源量根据最新核算,全国多年平均地下水量为8186亿m3.包括山丘…     

不同地下水埋深条件下农田潜水蒸发规律

汾河灌区作为山西省最大的自流灌区,近年来引用水量不足导致用水供需矛盾突出,文中分析了汾河灌区不同地下水埋深条件下农田潜水蒸发的规律,对今后灌区控制盐碱化的发生起到了重要的作用.     

National and International Water Law

Abstract

The exchange of data and information relating to transboundary water resources is widely accepted as being an appropriate starting point for more comprehensive cooperation. This paper examines under what conditions data and information exchange occur in relation to shared water resources, and hence examines when it can be used as a confidence building measure. An overview of several major international river basins together with more detailed case studies of the Mekong. Rio Grande, and Rhine River basins suggest that factors that promote data and information exchange include the presence of compatible needs, absence of legacies of mistrust, increasing water resources stress, perceptions that cooperation is of mutual benefit, external pressure and funding, comparable levels of institutional capacity, popular and political concern about water resources management, and functional formal or informal cooperative arrangements. Analysis of the situation prevailing between Israel and the Palestinians with regard to shared water resources suggests that data and information exchange does not seem likely in the short term, even though other forms of cooperation have been established with mixed results. This suggests that in some situations, at least, data and information exchange relating to shared water resources may not be useful as a first step in establishing more comprehensive cooperation.