Groundwater Management: The Movement Toward Local, Communityh-Based, Voluntary Programs

Abstract

Worldwide, groundwater aquifers are under stress. Conflicts abound.The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports this to be true in the United States as well. For decades, American state governments facing the problem have attempted through legislation4 and administrative action5 to reduce the rate of depletion of groundwater aquifers. Some areas in Kansas have been closed down completely to the issuance of new groundwater pumping permits. The judiciary has been active as well. A court or administrative agency may force reduced pumping by some pumpers in a defined aquifer in an attempt to slow down groundwater mining. Or, a court may order a single well owner to reduce or curtail pumping altogether because of impairment of another well.

This article treats various methods in which this problem is being addressed in the United States and the ways they have evolved over the last few decades. Water professionals commonly call the general approach to the problem "groundwater management." Some dictionary definitions of "manage" include the following: "handle or address with a degree of skill" and "treat with care,"' "control .. .something,"" "succeed in accomplishing,' and "control the use or exploitation of."' Any person's answer to the question of whether any of these various methods are working "may depend ... in part on the person's background, biases, perspective, and perhaps even present employment.'