Publication: Conjunctive Use of Groundwater and Surface Water
Loading...
Date
2006-02
ISSN
Published
2006-02
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Conjunctive water use refers to simultaneous use of surface water and groundwater to meet crop demand. This Note concludes that to optimize conjunctive use of water, the best way forward is to concentrate on capacity building of irrigation system managers to improve system management and reshape hydraulic infrastructure of large and small-surface systems. To sustain groundwater use in tube well-irrigated areas, enhancing recharge from precipitation and surface water imports is necessary. None of these improvements can be made without the proper institutional and organizational development, including investment in the capacities of local governments to lead on participatory groundwater management and integrated water resources management.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Shah, Tushar; Darghouth, Salah; Dinar, Ariel. 2006. Conjunctive Use of Groundwater and Surface Water. Agricultural and Rural Development Notes; No. 6. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9641 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Sustainable Groundwater Irrigation(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010)The aim of this paper is to provide a strategic overview of a decade of experience in supporting public administrations in their efforts to confront excessive groundwater resource exploitation for agricultural irrigation. Special emphasis is put on a series of on-the-ground pilot projects mainly in South and East Asia and Latin America, which are profiled through a series of boxes introduced in the paper. In these pilots' appropriate packages of technical, economic, institutional and social measures, in the main selected through use of a 'pragmatic framework' for groundwater resource management, have been introduced with agreement of stakeholders in an attempt to promote more sustainable groundwater use in agricultural irrigation. They have achieved varying degrees of success but do provide hope and orientation for the future in this important aspect of water resource management.Publication India Groundwater Governance Case Study(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-06)Groundwater comprises 97 percent of the worlds readily accessible freshwater and provides the rural, urban, industrial and irrigation water supply needs of 2 billion people around the world. As the more easily accessed surface water resources are already being used, pressure on groundwater is growing. In the last few decades, this pressure has been evident through rapidly increasing pumping of groundwater, accelerated by the availability of cheap drilling and pumping technologies and, in some countries, energy subsidies that distort decisions about exploiting groundwater. This accelerated growth in groundwater exploitation unplanned, unmanaged, and largely invisible has been dubbed by prominent hydro geologists the silent revolution. It is a paradox that such a vast and highly valuable resource which is likely to become even more important as climate change increasingly affects surface water sources has been so neglected by governments and the development community at a time when interest and support for the water sector as a whole is at an all-time high. This case study is a background paper for the World Bank economic and sector analysis (ESW) entitled too big to fail: the paradox of groundwater governance that aims to understand and address the paradox at the heart of the groundwater governance challenge in order to elevate the need for investing in and promoting proactive reforms toward its management. The project examines the impediments to better governance of groundwater, and explores opportunities for using groundwater to help developing countries adapt to climate change. Its recommendations will guide the Bank in its investments on groundwater and provide the Bank's contributions to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded global project groundwater governance: a framework for country action. The case study focused on the national, state and local levels. At the national and state levels, it analyzed the policy, legal, and institutional arrangements to identify the demand and supply management and incentive structures that have been established for groundwater management. At the local level, it assessed the operations, successes, and constraints facing local institutions in the governance of a number of aquifers within peninsula India, on the coast and on the plain of the Ganges river valley.Publication Deep Wells and Prudence : Towards Pragmatic Action for Addressing Groundwater Overexploitation in India(World Bank, 2010-01-29)India is the largest groundwater user in the world, with an estimated usage of around 230 cubic kilometers per year, more than a quarter of the global total. With more than 60 percent of irrigated agriculture and 85 percent of drinking water supplies dependent on it, groundwater is a vital resource for rural areas in India. Reliance of urban and industrial waste supplies on groundwater is also becoming increasingly significant in India. Through the construction of millions of private wells, there has been a phenomenal growth in the exploitation of groundwater in the last five decades. The potential social and economic consequences of continued weak or nonexistent groundwater management are serious, as aquifer depletion is concentrated in many of the most populated and economically productive areas. The implications are disturbing for attainment of the millennium development goals, for sustaining economic growth and local livelihoods, and for environmental and fiscal sustainability. The consequences will be most severe for the poor. Furthermore, climate change will put additional stress on groundwater resources; while at the same time will have an unpredictable impact on groundwater recharge and availability.Publication Mongolia(Washington, DC, 2010-04)The report looks critically at the water resources and the current and projected future water demands in the Southern Gobi Region (SGR) using the widely dispersed data and information that are currently available. An important conclusion of the report is that almost all the significant sources of groundwater in the SGR are 'fossil' or 'non-renewable', meaning that they are finite resources which cannot be replenished. Not only will that, but pumping water out of these fosil aquifers tend to cause a drop in the groundwater levels above them. The report proposes practical steps by which water resources development and management could be managed to best serve economic and infrastructure development while giving attention to environmental protection and service to communities in the SGR. The report also highlights the urgent need for more data. A more detailed picture of the distribution and quantity of the groundwater would give planners first, a better idea of both the limits to the growth of the SGR; and, second, of the future water demands, its spatial distribution, quality requirements, and the possibilities to increase water use efficiency and water re-use. Thus there is a need to bring all information and data together to form the basis for rational planning.Publication Kenya Groundwater Governance Case Study(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-06)This report presents a case study on groundwater governance in Kenya. The objectives of the study were to: (a) describe groundwater resource and socioeconomic settings for four selected aquifers; (b) describe governance arrangements for groundwater management in Kenya; and (c) identify the relevance of these arrangements for planning and implementing climate change mitigation measures. The report provides a comprehensive strategy to develop effective groundwater management and a pilot groundwater management plan. Kenya's draft Policy for the Protection of Groundwater provides most of the requirements for improving groundwater governance, including participation and empowerment of groundwater users, decentralization of management to local level, integration of surface and groundwater management, improving monitoring and data collection, identifying sites for managed aquifer recharge (MAR), mapping strategic aquifers and conjunctive use opportunities, and identifying groundwater conservation areas. Groundwater management decision making is sector-based and on the whole ad hoc; there is no mechanism for coordination and for fostering cross-sector linkages. Consequently, the management of groundwater resources has continued to be carried on in isolation from the management of land and other land-based resources, with the inevitable consequence that the implications of management decisions in critical areas such as physical are planning, land use planning, and agricultural activities have often been overlooked. At the same time, groundwater decision making remains overly centralized, with limited real involvement of stakeholder units, such as catchment area advisory committees (CAACs) and water resources user associations (WRUAs).
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2018(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2018-05-22)The State and Trends of Carbon Pricing series reflects on the growing momentum for carbon pricing worldwide. It targets the wide audience of public and private stakeholders engaged in carbon pricing design and implementation. This report provides an up-to-date overview of existing and emerging carbon pricing instruments around the world, including national and subnational initiatives. It also investigates trends surrounding the development of carbon pricing instruments and how they could accelerate to deliver long-term mitigation goals.Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-01-10)Global growth is projected to decelerate sharply, reflecting synchronous policy tightening aimed at containing very high inflation, worsening financial conditions, and continued disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Investment growth in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) is expected to remain below its average rate of the past two decades. Further adverse shocks could push the global economy into recession. Small states are especially vulnerable to such shocks because of the reliance on external trade and financing, limited economic diversification, elevated debt, and susceptibility to natural disasters. Against this backdrop, it is critical that EMDE policy makers ensure that any fiscal support is focused on vulnerable groups, that inflation expectations remain well anchored, and that financial systems continue to be resilient. Urgent global and national efforts are also needed to mitigate the risks of global recession and debt distress in EMDEs, and to support a major increase in EMDE investment.Publication Digital Opportunities in African Businesses(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-16)Adoption of digital technologies is widely acknowledged to boost productivity and employment, stimulate investment, and promote growth and development. Africa has already benefited from a rapid diffusion of information and communications technology, characterized by the widespread adoption of mobile phones. However, access to and use of digital technology among firms is uneven in the region, varying not just among countries but also within them. Consequently, African businesses may not be reaping the full potential benefits offered by ongoing improvements in digital infrastructure. Using rich datasets, “Digital Opportunities in African Businesses” offers a new understanding of the region’s incomplete digitalization—namely, shortfalls in the adoption and effective use of digital technology by firms to perform productive tasks. The research presented here also highlights the challenges in addressing incomplete digitalization, finding that the cost of machinery, equipment, and software, as well as the cost of connectivity to the internet, is significantly more expensive in Africa than elsewhere. “Digital Opportunities in African Businesses” outlines ways in which the private sector, with support from policy makers, international institutions, and regulators, can help bring down these costs, stimulating more widespread digitalization of the region’s firms, thereby boosting productivity and, by extension, economic development. This book will be relevant to anyone with an interest in furthering digitalization across Africa.Publication Media and Messages for Nutrition and Health(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06)The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has experienced rapid and significant economic growth over the past decade. However, poor nutritional outcomes remain a concern. Rates of childhood undernutrition are particularly high in remote, rural, and upland areas. Media have the potential to play an important role in shaping health and nutrition–related behaviors and practices as well as in promoting sociocultural and economic development that might contribute to improved nutritional outcomes. This report presents the results of a media audit (MA) that was conducted to inform the development and production of mass media advocacy and communication strategies and materials with a focus on maternal and child health and nutrition that would reach the most people from the poorest communities in northern Lao PDR. Making more people aware of useful information, essential services and products and influencing them to use these effectively is the ultimate goal of mass media campaigns, and the MA measures the potential effectiveness of media efforts to reach this goal. The effectiveness of communication channels to deliver health and nutrition messages to target beneficiaries to ensure maximum reach and uptake can be viewed in terms of preferences, satisfaction, and trust. Overall, the four most accessed media channels for receiving information among communities in the study areas were village announcements, mobile phones, television, and out-of-home (OOH) media. Of the accessed media channels, the top three most preferred channels were village announcements (40 percent), television (26 percent), and mobile phones (19 percent). In terms of trust, village announcements were the most trusted source of information (64 percent), followed by mobile phones (14 percent) and television (11 percent). Hence of all the media channels, village announcements are the most preferred, have the most satisfied users, and are the most trusted source of information in study communities from four provinces in Lao PDR with some of the highest burden of childhood undernutrition.Publication Economic Recovery(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-04-06)World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the world facing major challenges, including COVID, climate change, rising poverty and inequality and growing fragility and violence in many countries. He highlighted vaccines, working closely with Gavi, WHO, and UNICEF, the World Bank has conducted over one hundred capacity assessments, many even more before vaccines were available. The World Bank Group worked to achieve a debt service suspension initiative and increased transparency in debt contracts at developing countries. The World Bank Group is finalizing a new climate change action plan, which includes a big step up in financing, building on their record climate financing over the past two years. He noted big challenges to bring all together to achieve GRID: green, resilient, and inclusive development. Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, mentioned focusing on vulnerable people during the pandemic. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, focused on giving everyone a fair shot during a sustainable recovery. All three commented on the importance of tackling climate change.