CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN GROUNDWATER INTENSIVE USE

The intensive use of aquifers is a relatively recent phenomenon. It has taken place mainly in arid and semiarid regions and has been principally driven by economic factors. The direct benefits of groundwater abstraction are usually greater than its direct costs. The intensive use of groundwater has contributed to economic and social improvements both in industrialized and developing countries. In the last few decades most of the new potable water supply for poverty stricken areas of the world and many of the new irrigation areas have been achieved through groundwater development. The continuation of this development will be the principal mechanism to achieve two of the U.N. Millennium Declaration goals.

In most cases this groundwater development has been undertaken by individuals, with limited planning and control by government agencies. This has, in some cases, induced negative impacts that might have been avoided or mitigated if an appropriate control system had been set up. These negative impacts are related to excessive decline of the groundwater levels, water quality degradation, land subsidence, interference with streams and lakes, and degradation of aquatic ecosystems. Frequently these uncertain effects have been presented in an exaggerated fashion and have contributed to create the false paradigm that groundwater is a quite fragile resource.

As a contribution in obtaining a more objective viewpoint an International Workshop on the topic of Intensive Use of Groundwater was held in Madrid (Spain)in December of 2001.The Proceedings of this Workshop will be available by September 2002.One of the most relevant conclusions of these Proceedings is that the economic and social productivity of groundwater irrigation is several times greater than the equivalent productivity of surface water irrigation. Another significant conclusion is that to get a sustainable development, the implementation of collective systems for groundwater management is more important than regulations on groundwater ownership.