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NGWA/AWRA Groundwater Visibility Initiative

NGWA/AWRA Groundwater Visibility Initiative. William M. Alley Director of Science & Technology National Ground Water Association (NGWA) NGWA Groundwater Week December 8, 2016. Co-authors. Michael E. Campana , Technical Director, NGWA and Oregon State University

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NGWA/AWRA Groundwater Visibility Initiative

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  1. NGWA/AWRA Groundwater Visibility Initiative William M. Alley Director of Science & Technology National Ground Water Association (NGWA) NGWA Groundwater Week December 8, 2016

  2. Co-authors • Michael E. Campana, Technical Director, NGWA and Oregon State University • Lisa Beutler, Executive Facilitator, MWH Global • Sharon B. Megdal, Director, ArizonaWater Resources Research Center • John C. Tracy, Director, Texas Water Resources Institute

  3. NGWA/AWRA Groundwater Visibility Initiative • Improving groundwater “visibility”: • Connections to surface water • Climate variability and change • Policies for agriculture, land use, energy, etc. • Importance of monitoring groundwater status and trends • Transparency of groundwater information and management • Workshop April 2016; continuing outreach See http://bit.ly/2fQ2NM3 and Nov/Dec 2016 issue of Groundwater

  4. 1. Managing groundwater requires working with people • Achieving GW sustainability requires societal decisions that involve tradeoffs and should be made through informed, transparent public participation. • Importance of multidisciplinary teams and alliances among multiple stakeholder and governance/management associations • Provide examples of good management and governance to decision-makers and other stakeholders

  5. 2. Data and information are key • Better data on aquifer systems, including water withdrawals and consumptive use are needed for both groundwater and surface water management • Different aquifers behave differently • Monitoring and ongoing evaluation at appropriate spatiotemporal scales to understand trends in both quality and quantity • Data should be readily accessible to all stakeholders.

  6. 3. Some “secrets” remain • Improved scientific understanding is needed of climate impacts on supply (quantity and quality) and demand for groundwater and its interaction with surface water. • Long lag times for groundwater impacts and system responses should be addressed in groundwater planning and management.

  7. 4. We need to take care of what we have • Ensure that planning and investment incorporate infrastructure rehabilitation and maintenance.

  8. 5. Effective groundwater management is critical to an integrated water management portfolio that is adaptive and resilient to drought and climate change • A diverse water management portfolio that includes groundwater, surface water, conservation, recycling, etc. will contribute to greater water security and less risk. • Managed aquifer recharge is a potentially critical element of drought mitigation planning. • Projects should be reviewed from a long-term resilience perspective rather than a short-term one. (Groundwater especially important as a tool to buffer extremes.)

  9. 5. Effective groundwater management is critical to an integrated water management portfolio that is adaptive and resilient to drought and climate change • Models need to be reviewed and adaptive. Collaborative modeling can be an effective tool to foster buy-in of management options by stakeholders. • In a fully integrated system, repurposing dams and flood control operations for recharge is another opportunity.

  10. 6. To be robust, agriculture, energy, environmental, land-use planning, and urban development policies must incorporate groundwater considerations • Groundwater problems typically do not have a single solution. • Return flows from different sectors have significant intersection with groundwater management issues.

  11. 6. To be robust, agriculture, energy, environmental, land-use planning, and urban development policies must incorporate groundwater considerations (cont.) • Planning and management need to be integrated across all of the sectors. This includes matching quality, quantity and use. • Land-use planning can be used to protect or enhance base flow of streams, floodplain management, and groundwater recharge.

  12. 6. To be robust, agriculture, energy, environmental, land-use planning, and urban development policies must incorporate groundwater considerations (cont.) • Water managers should consider innovative ways of education and outreach to the agricultural sector --the key role of agricultural extension agents --subsidy-based conservation programs --self-regulation with performance-based criteria --crop yield competitions with guarantees --early adapter programs --professionally facilitated communication

  13. "Imagine a book about groundwater that reads like a novel, and is overflowing with interesting and essential knowledge about a much‑neglected topic. This is the book.“ Bruce Babbitt, former United States Secretary of the Interior Yale University Press; Feb 2017

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