Stakeholder participation is a foundation of good water governance. Good groundwater governance typically involves the co-production of knowledge about the groundwater system. Models provide a vehicle for producing this knowledge, as well as a “boundary object” around which scientists and stakeholders can convene the co-production process. Through co-production, stakeholders and scientific experts can engage in exchanges that create system knowledge not otherwise achievable. The process involves one-way transfer of information, active two-way conversations, and integration of multiple kinds of knowledge into shared understanding. In the Upper Santa Cruz River basin in Arizona, USA, the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center (WRRC) convened a project aimed at providing scientific underpinnings for groundwater planning and management. This project, entitled Groundwater, Climate, and Stakeholder Engagement, serves as a case study employing the first two stages of knowledge co-production using a hydrological model. Through an iterative process that included two-way communication, stakeholders provided critical input to hydrologic modeling analyses. Acting as a bridging organization, the WRRC facilitated a co-production process, involving location-specific and transferability workshops, which resulted in new knowledge and capacity for applying the model to novel problems.
Groundwater Governance and Management
State-Level Groundwater Governance and Management in the U.S.
Groundwater is increasingly important for meeting water demand across the United States. Forward thinking governance and effective management are necessary for its sustainable use. The U.S. has state governments that are primarily reponsible for groundwater governance (i.e., making laws, policies, and regulations) and management (i.e., implementation of laws, policies, and regulations). This decentralized approach results in different strategies and practices. In Fall 2015 the Water Resources Research Center began the next phase of its "Groundwater Goverance in the U.S." project. A nationwide survey was developed in coordination with an advisory council from the Ground Water Research and Education Foundation (GWREF) and funded by a grant from the GWREF. The survey was administered to state-level officials who oversee groundwater quality programs in 2016 in order to identify on-the-ground practices that may help improve and enhance management of the nation's water supplies. The report was finalized in June 2017.
Opening the Black Box: Using a Hydrological Model to Link Stakeholder Engagement with Groundwater Management
Groundwater Governance in the United States: Common Priorities and Challenges
Groundwater is a critical component of the water supply for agriculture, urban areas, industry, and ecosystems, but managing it is a challenge because groundwater is difficult to map, quantify, and evaluate. Until recently, study and assessment of governance of this water resource has been largely neglected. A survey was developed to query state agency officials about the extent and scope of groundwater use, groundwater laws and regulations, and groundwater tools and strategies.
Groundwater Governance in the United States: Summary and Appendix
In fall 2012, the Water Resources Research Center and the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona initiated the project “ Groundwater Governance in the U.S . ” The effort aims to better understand the scope of groundwater governance across the United States today. As a first step, the project launched a national - scale survey of state agency officials in the U.S.
Groundwater Governance - A Global Framework for Action
Groundwater Governance - A Global Framework for Action (2011-2014) is a joint project supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), jointly with UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP), the International Association of Hydrologists (IAH) and the World Bank. The project is designed to raise awareness of the importance of groundwater resources for many regions of the world, and identify and promote best practices in groundwater governance as a way to achieve the sustainable management of groundwater resources. www.groundwatergovernance.org
Arizona Groundwater Management
In this article, Dr. Sharon B. Megdal discusses Arizona groundwater management with a look at the tools that have been developed to support achievement of multiple policy objectives. The geographic focus is Central Arizona, the location of Arizona’s most populated metropolitan regions. Dr. Megdal explains how the foundation of the 1980 Groundwater Management Act has been built upon to facilitate meeting groundwater policy objectives. The framework allows for significant flexibility — or choices — on the part of those who must comply with the regulations.Several unresolved issues, or, as we sometimes call them, “holes in our water bucket” are also discussed.
Arizona's Experience a Model for Groundwater Governance
Dr. Sharon B. Megdal discusses groundwater governance issues related to her international travels.
I have been traveling internationally much of the time since my sabbatical started at the end of February. I spent just over one month in Israel as a Lady Davis Visiting Professor at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, during which time I traveled to Marseille, France for the World Water Forum. In April, I spent some time in Montevideo, Uruguay attending the first regional consultation of the global Groundwater Governance Project (see groundwatergovernance.org and the Guest View in the Winter 2012 issue of this newsletter). The Project is designed to bring attention to the importance of groundwater for many regions of the world and to identify best practices or frameworks for good groundwater governance...