Groundwater Allocation Research Articles

Implications of the Mississippi v. Tennessee Supreme Court Decision for Interstate Groundwater Management.

Groundwater allocation is rapidly becoming a contentious water resource management problem around the world. It is anticipated that the effects of climate change would further aggravate this problem. Conflicts over the distribution of freshwater are expected to increase as stakeholders want to access more groundwater to meet their growing demands. In the United States, water conflicts are settled through a litigation process. Water litigations can be expensive, protracted, and fraught with complex legal and technical difficulties. A landmark groundwater case involving Tennessee (TN) and Mississippi (MS) was recently litigated in the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). In this case, MS sued TN for stealing their groundwater and SCOTUS unanimously ruled that the water contained in the aquifer that naturally crosses the border between TN and MS is subject to equitable apportionment. This decision has significant ramifications for groundwater management as it established a precedent for resolving future interstate groundwater litigations. Although the Court has previously applied the legal doctrine of equitable apportionment to settle disputes involving surface water use, this is the first instance in which the doctrine has been applied to resolve an interstate groundwater dispute. Therefore, currently, there are little or no guidelines available for equitably distributing groundwater resources between two states. The objective of this article is to examine this historic legal dispute to fully understand the scientific justification for the judicial stances taken by the plaintiff and defendants, and the legal reasoning for the final verdict. We also discuss the challenges this ruling presents for managing interstate groundwater resources.

Estimating non‐market values of protecting groundwater in a constrained environment

AbstractIn groundwater‐constrained areas, reallocating groundwater away from agriculture to achieve environmental outcomes has become a popular top‐down regulatory approach. However, little attention has been paid to understanding public preferences for such policies. Using a choice experiment, we explore community preferences for different components of a groundwater allocation management program affecting agriculture in a severely water‐constrained but highly groundwater‐dependent environment, Western Australia. We find strong community preferences for a substantial reallocation away from agriculture, with compensation based on ecological benefits, regular monitoring through meters and a medium‐level penalty for those that over‐extract. The estimated non‐market value to implement a groundwater management program comprising the preferred structure is up to AU$61 million per year. This result demonstrates the value of considering community preferences when designing groundwater management policies.

Evolution of social-ecological system and the hydrological linkages in oasis area, northwestern China

Oases provide the most important support to human livelihood and economic activities in drylands. In recent decades, nature and humanity in oases areas have been increasingly integrated, and it is necessary to coordinate the development of the two. This study quantitatively defined the evolutionary phases of the social-ecological system based on varying correlations among agricultural, socioeconomic, and ecological factors. Three different evolutionary phases have been identified in the development of oases in northwestern China since 2000. In the first phase, the groundwater supply increased with agricultural and socioeconomic development. The subsequent phase was characterized as the groundwater supply increased with faster agricultural development. In the final phase, the groundwater supply decreased in response to urban development improvements. As social factors such as population, economic growth, urbanization, and environmental protection became more reliant on groundwater, its contribution to groundwater depletion increased from 8.37% to 76.52%, which further constrained grain production. The findings emphasized that groundwater allocation played a critical role in influencing the development mode of the oasis system. Achieving sustainable social-ecological development requires an integrated and systemic perspective that focuses on the tradeoff between food production, ecological security, water resource security and economic development.

Groundwater Resource Allocation in British Columbia: Challenges and Ways Forward

Groundwater allocation in British Columbia is facing several important challenges. Groundwater is licensed under the Water Sustainability Act and potentially included in modern treaties. These challenges include acknowledging the importance of groundwater in supporting environmental flowneeds and human water use, the uncertainty and misconceptions surrounding annual recharge estimates, and the under-appreciated importance of aquifer drainage, while tackling cumulative impacts in watersheds using adaptive management with clear sustainability goals. This article summarizes these challenges and suggests ways forward so that we can more robustly, holistically, and sustainably allocate groundwater resources. This includes some evidenced-based suggestions that are alreadymbeing implemented partially or in some regions. Not implementing these suggestions risks permanent over-allocation of groundwater resources that would impact stream ecology, endanger rural livelihoods, and challenge reconciliation with First Nations. Keywords: groundwater allocation, groundwater resources, water management, water policy, climate change

The effectiveness of exploitable zoning in the Boa Viagem neighborhood, in Recife/PE

This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of exploitable zoning in the neighborhood of Boa Viagem, city of Recife/ PE. For this, the information present in the three editions of the Hydrogeological Study of the Metropolitan Region of Recife, known as HIDROREC I, II and III, was used as subsidy, as well as the database of groundwater allocation, provided by APAC. From the analyses performed, an improvement in the level of the Cabo aquifer was obtained in Zone A of Boa Viagem, which may be related to compliance with Resolution CRH no. 04/2003. It can also be concluded that this resolution was being complied with in zone B. Thus, the importance of the exploitable zoning map is highlighted as an important tool for promoting groundwater management and conservation.

Evaluation of metaheuristic optimization algorithms for optimal allocation of surface water and groundwater resources for crop production

Extensive variability in current climatic conditions necessitates the need for optimal planning of water resources to manage socio-economic and environmental requirements efficiently. The optimal allocation of surface water and groundwater is essential to maximize crop net return due to uncertainty in seasonal rainfall, groundwater, and surface water availability in each region. This study demonstrated a multi-objective model to maximize the crop net return and efficient management of water resources. The multi-objective model comprised three objective functions maximizing the crop net return, minimizing the water deficit, and maximizing the aquifer recharge. The model’s practicability was analyzed through the case study of the Pennar-Palar-Cauvery link canal command in India. Three meta-heuristic approaches, particle swarm optimization (PSO), genetic algorithm (GA), and marine predators algorithm (MPA), were employed to solve the presented model. And their performance was evaluated using hypervolume and coverage metrics, indicating MPA’s superiority in obtaining well-distributed Pareto-optimal solutions. Thus, decision-makers can choose the best feasible solution based on current resource availability and preferences. The model was executed considering different cropping area deviations (5–25%) in the existing cropping pattern and allowance of groundwater mining from 0% to 70%. The obtained cropping pattern utilizing MPA at 25% cropping deviation achieved an increased net return of 1327.05 million INR.

Identification and delineation of groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in the Khakea–Bray transboundary aquifer region using geospatial techniques

Identifying and delineating groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) is critical in understanding their location, distribution and groundwater allocation. However, this information is inadequately understood due to limited available data for most areas where they occur. Thus, this study aims to address this gap using remotely sensed, analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and in situ data to identify and delineate GDEs in the Khakea–Bray transboundary aquifer region. The study tested various spatial-explicit GDE indices that integrates environmental factors that predict occurrence of GDEs. These include the normalized difference vegetation index as a proxy for vegetation productivity and modified normalized difference water index as proxy for moisture availability, land-use and landcover, topographical factors such as slope, topographic wetness index, flow accumulation and curvature. The GDEs were delineated using the weighted overlay tool in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. The thematic output layer was then spatially classified into two classes, namely, GDEs and non-GDEs. The results showed that only 1.34% of the area is characterised by GDEs covering 721,908 ha. Overall, identified GDEs were found mostly on a gentle slope on the large portion of shrubland and grassland. The derived GDEs map was then statistically compared with groundwater level (GWL) data from 22 boreholes that occur in the area. Our results indicated that: GDEs are concentrated at the northern, central and south-western part of the study area. The validation results showed significant overlapping of GDEs classes with both the groundwater level (GWL) and rainfall in the study area. The results show a possible delineation of GDEs in the study area using remote sensing and GIS techniques along with AHP and is transferable to other arid and semiarid environments. The results of this study contributes to identifying and delineating priority areas where appropriate water conservation programmes for sustainable groundwater development can be implemented.

Development of an inexact simulation-evaluation model for the joint analysis of water pricing and groundwater allocation policies

A critical step in water management policy development is the analysis of its socio-economic and environmental implications. However, few methods could proactively and reliably predict and assess the impacts of policies while handling the inherent uncertainty. To fill such a gap, an inexact simulation-evaluation method was developed for analyzing the impacts of multiple water management policies under uncertainty. The interval positive mathematical programming (IPMP) method was proposed as the simulation tool by coupling interval programming with positive mathematical programming (PMP). The evaluation tool was developed by combining the interval TOPSIS method and the interval maximum deviation method. This simulation-evaluation method can directly communicate a policy's simulation outcomes into the evaluation process while addressing the uncertainties in both simulation and evaluation. The proposed method can also reproduce the actual situation with a calibration process, which enables accurate and smooth responses to policy changes. This approach was used for agricultural water management in arid north-west China. Seventy-five policy alternatives generated from three groundwater allocation limits and twenty-five differential water pricing levels were investigated. The impacts of these alternatives on farmer income, farmer employment, water consumption, planting areas, and fertilizer use were simulated using IPMP. Twenty-four non-inferior alternatives were selected and further evaluated with multi-dimensional criteria. The final results showed that, the water price for grain crops with traditional irrigation methods should rise by 60%, those for cash crops with drip irrigation should decrease by 60%, and the groundwater quota should be reduced by 20%. Compared with traditional models, IPMP can increase simulation accuracy by reproducing observed situations, enhance robustness by reflecting input uncertainty, and improve flexibility in decision-making by providing interval solutions. The inexact simulation-evaluation model can also be widely used to analyze other policies.

Modelling Techniques for Conjunctive Water Management: A Review

Optimal allocation of surface water and groundwater is the key factor for conjunctive water management. Proper planning is necessary for optimal allocation of water for maximizing crop yield benefits and/or minimizing water quality problems. With the advent of computers, by the late 1960s, computer-aided mathematical models came into use to help decision-makers in planning conjunctive water management. Optimization models were popular in the early decades. Then researchers came to know the advantage of mimicking the situations and analyzing them before arriving at optimal solutions. Thus, simulation models and integrated simulation-optimization models came into existence. Multi-objective models were developed to solve more complicated physical situations. The computational burden of running thousands or lakhs of simulations before getting an optimum solution, generated evolution algorithms like ANN and GA to reduce the running time of models and obtain a more accurate solution. Even now we can’t say the modelling approach is perfect to solve the real-world water-related issues that involve complicated physical phenomenon. A model which is more accurate, simpler and very near to real situations, may be developed in near future.

Geographic Information System (GIS) as a basis for the next generation of hydrogeological models to manage the geothermal area Waiwera (New Zealand)

Abstract. The geothermal hot water reservoir below the small town of Waiwera in New Zealand has been known to the indigenous Māori for many centuries. Overproduction by European immigrants led to a water level decrease and consequently artesian flow from the wells and the seeps on the beach ceased. The Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Council established the Waiwera Thermal Groundwater Allocation and Management Plan to allow the geothermal system to recover. For a sustainable operation, the management regime can be informed by hydrogeological models based on monitoring data. The underlying geological model has been revised according to field observations and an existing numerical model transferred to the newly developed software package TRANSPORTSE. Monitoring and digitally derived data have been integrated in a geographic information system (GIS).

Stackelberg equilibrium water allocation patterns in shallow groundwater area under uncertainties

The hierarchical agricultural water resource management problem in shallow groundwater area is expected to be solved through establishing a practical and feasible mathematical model. This study proposes a multi-level programming model with considerations of process-based crops growth model and uncertainties. The model is solved by a fuzzy approach that ensures the decision-making proceeds from top to bottom sequentially and the leader supervises the solution search direction. The leeway given by each level decision maker expands the decision-making space and lets Stackelberg equilibrium solution more satisfactory. The model is applied in Hetao Irrigation District in China. After optimization, the Stackelberg equilibrium water allocation pattern and satisfaction degrees of each level decision makers can be identified. Summarized conclusions are as follows: (1) under uncertainties of available water, the water diversion is allocated in a similar pattern, while the groundwater allocation has larger variabilities; (2) when available water decreases, local farmers can improve crop production through modifying or optimizing irrigation water amount in each growth period; (3) the combined use of water diversion and groundwater is expected to become an effective approach for achieving a win–win situation between government managers and local farmers. The proposed model performs well in generating Stackelberg equilibrium solutions satisfied by multi-level decision makers. It can be extended to provide decision makers a more complete decision support system and also has potential to be applied in other similar areas.

Characterisation of Hydro-Geochemical Processes Influencing Groundwater Quality in Rural Areas: A Case Study of Soutpansberg Region, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Groundwater is often the main or only source of fresh water supply in arid to semi-arid rural areas owing to decreasing rainfall patterns, reduced availability of surface water and socioeconomic activities. It is important to understand the hydro-geochemical processes influencing groundwater quality for improved management and sustainability of resources and to improve rural livelihoods. To understand the hydro-geochemical process influencing the hydro-geochemistry of the Soutpansberg region, this study assessed groundwater quality data from 12 boreholes and 2 geothermal springs collected between 1995 and 2017. This study indicated that the majority of the samples were classified as fresh groundwater dominated by Ca-HCO3 and mixed Ca-Mg-Cl types. Gibbs diagrams, Pearson correlations, bivariate plots and saturation indexes suggested that rock dominance processes, such as weathering of silicates, dissolution of carbonates and halite minerals and ion exchange processes, were the main hydro-geochemical processes influencing the groundwater quality in the Soutpansberg region. The high concentration of F− in the geothermal spring was attributed to the dissolution of fluorite mineral. Point source anthropogenic inputs from fertilisers were attributed to the high concentration of NO3− in the groundwater. This study recommends that research outputs should be used to influence and support policy change and groundwater allocation in arid to semi-arid rural environments for improved management of resources and livelihoods. This study further recommends that suitable deflouridation and denitrification techniques be applied to improve the quality of groundwater for drinking purposes.

Benefits of a groundwater allocation trading arrangement in a water-stressed environment

The Gnangara groundwater system is Western Australia’s most important groundwater resource, but it is being depleted. Although Australia has been at the forefront of establishing water markets, Western Australia has been slow to adopt legislation that would support trade in groundwater. This study explores the impact of introducing groundwater trading within the horticulture sector for farms that extract water from the Gnangara system. We use a simulation-optimization framework to evaluate market performance. The model is based on detailed water allocation data obtained from the relevant water agency. A farm optimization model was used to generate supply and demand functions for water at the individual farm level, and the market clearing price for water was established via a uniform price double-sided auction. The level of water available for extraction was also varied. The model considers unrestricted trading and trading within relatively small groundwater zones that limit the potential for local over-extraction externalities. The results show (1) substantial economic gains from allowing trading are possible, (2) most of the gains from establishing a groundwater market can be realized from within-zone trading only, (3) industry consolidation follows the introduction of trading, and (4) without zonal trading restrictions local over-extraction externalities are present. Also, with groundwater trading, we find that reallocating water to the most efficient producers could reduce horticulture sector water extraction by 14%, while maintaining the existing value of agricultural production in the area.

Market-based groundwater resources allocation mechanism: An inter-sectoral water exchanges programming analysis

This study aims to analyze the effects of local water market formation in a limited region of the Gavkhuni Basin, located in the center of Iran. An economic optimization mathematical model, called ‘inter-sectoral water exchanges programming’ (IWEP), is developed to address the study objectives. The proposed model seeks to maximize the net benefit of participating agents in the water market mechanism. This model can determine the scope of production activities and the monthly volume of water exchange through different technical methods of water transfer. Results demonstrate that the agriculture sector contributes to an increase in the productions of the agriculture industries and building industries through selling its surplus water. Although farm agents sell only 1% of their groundwater permits to industrial agents, the total net benefit of the agents is increased by more than 30%, compared to when the water market is not implemented. The shared aquifer method, based on common pool groundwater resources, is identified as a suitable technical method for water transfer in the groundwater markets. Finally, the socio-hydrological analysis of groundwater exchanges reveals that the inter-sectoral water market at the local scale can increase the region's employment rate by 45% and mitigate more pressure on the aquifer to meet water demands in the industry sector. These results clarify the efficient role of market-based groundwater allocation approach under water scarcity conditions. • Inter-sectoral water exchanges programming (IWEP) model is developed to analyze the economic impacts of the groundwater exchanges. • The IWEP model determines the optimal production amount of different agricultural and industrial products under techno-economic simulations. • The superiority of the market-based water allocation mechanism is confirmed in the face of water scarcity. • The shared aquifer method is proposed as a suitable technical method for water transfer in local groundwater markets. • The positive role of the inter-sectoral water market mechanism in socio-hydrological issues are clarified by adopting adaptive control policies.

On the Need for Including Groundwater Allocation in Future Negotiations on the Orontes

A series of treaties between Lebanon and Syria on the use of the Orontes (‘Assi) River’s flows emerged in the mid-1990s, being reformed twice to result in a finalized 2002 agreement allocating Lebanon 96 million cubic meters (MCM) out of 403 MCM as measured at the Hermel Bridge gauge. Focusing on the area south of Ar-Rastan, Syria, this article seeks to explore these treaties’ treatment of groundwater, ultimately demonstrating that it is not sufficiently accounted for. This allows for intensive groundwater abstractions—which may be beyond the aquifer’s recharge rate—to be undertaken in Syria. The paper concludes with recommendations to better manage the basin’s groundwater resources, which include improving groundwater data, using these data to calibrate improved hydrologic models, and a renegotiation of the treaty to better account for groundwater use.

Research on Scale Demonstration Technology of Inter Basin Water Transfer Project in Agricultural Irrigation

Inter-basin water transfer projects are powerful measures for resolving the uneven distribution of water resources, but their scale directly affects the associated investment and income. Therefore, determining the scale of an inter-basin water transfer project is essential. Based on the inter-basin agricultural water transfer project in the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China, combined with the suitable development scale of the irrigation area with the joint allocation of existing water sources, this research proposes a technique to demonstrate the scale of an inter-basin water transfer project based on dynamic trial feedback under the condition of the optimization method of despiking of the groundwater allocation; the water transfer project scale is demonstrated for each section in reverse order. According to the water demand prediction results in the study area, the scale of water transfer project BC is demonstrated, and the scale of water transfer project AB is demonstrated on the basis of the BC scale. The final AB and BC water transfer scales decrease by 15% and 13%, respectively; compared with the conventional method under the premise that the water supply guarantee rate is 75%. When the water is transferred, the process is stable, and the utilization rate of the canal is high, thereby saving investment funds and facilitating project scheduling and management.

Hybrid optimization model for conjunctive use of surface and groundwater resources in water deficit irrigation system.

The increasing demand for food production with limited available water resources poses a threat to agricultural activities. Conventional optimization algorithms increase the processing stage and perform in the space allocated from user. Therefore, the proposed work was used to design better performance results. The conjunctive allocation of water resources maximizes the net benefit of farmers. In this study, the novel hybrid optimization model developed is the first of its kind and was designed to resolve the sharing of water resource conflict among different reaches based on a genetic algorithm (GA), bacterial foraging optimization (BFO) and ant colony optimization (ACO) to maximize the net benefit of the water deficit in Sathanur reservoir command. The GA-based optimization model considered crop-related physical and economic parameters to derive optimal cropping patterns for three different conjunctive use policies and further allocation of surface and groundwater for different crops are enhanced with the BFO. The allocation of surface and groundwater for the head, middle and tail reaches obtained from the BFO is considered as an input to the ACO as a guiding mechanism to attain an optimal cropping pattern. Comparing the average productivity values, policy 3 (3.665 Rs/m3) has better values relating to policy 1 (3.662 Rs/m3) and policy 2 (3.440 Rs/m3). Thus, the developed novel hybrid optimization model (GA-BFO-ACO) is very promising for enhancing farmer's net income and can be replicated in other irrigated regions to overcome chronic water problems. The productivity value of policy 3 was 6.54% greater than that of policy 2, whereas that of policy 1 was 6.45% greater. Overall, the comparison shows that the better performance analysis of various optimization was done successfully.

Using Price Elasticities of Water Demand to Inform Policy

This survey distills recent work on the price elasticity of demand for urban and agricultural water and outlines how it can inform the design of market-based approaches to manage increasingly scarce water resources. We offer a brief description of the water sector, including the primary users, main water sources, and market failures in the allocation and use of surface water and groundwater. A review of recent empirical research on the price elasticities of agricultural and urban water demand shows the progress made in our understanding of user response to prices and reveals substantial heterogeneity in the price response. We apply what we have learned about elasticities to surface water markets and price-based groundwater management. Heterogeneity in price elasticities suggests that water transfers may lead to large efficiency gains, but that their magnitude is site specific. Groundwater pricing may cost-effectively manage groundwater and fund the development of alternative water supplies, but heterogeneity in elasticity estimates highlights that the conservation and revenue generated are basin specific.

Groundwater sustainability: Developing a non-cooperative optimal management scenario in shared groundwater resources under water bankruptcy conditions

Groundwater level drawdown changes the hydrological cycle and poses challenges such as land subsidence and reduction of the groundwater quality. In this study, a new approach using a simulation-optimization framework was developed for shared groundwater management under water bankruptcy conditions (where water demand is greater than the allowable discharge capacity of water resources). The novelty of this study lies in using bankruptcy rules and a game model to manage a bankrupted shared groundwater resource considering aquifer sustainability. Accordingly, groundwater flow in the aquifer was numerically simulated by a finite-differences model (MODFLOW). Then, the repeated performance code of the finite-differences model was run for different discharge scenarios, and the results were applied to develop an MLP-ANN meta-model. By coupling the meta-model with a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA–II)–based multi-objective optimization model, an optimized cultivation pattern under water bankruptcy conditions was achieved. Then, six different bankruptcy methods were utilized to specify groundwater allocation between three stakeholders. To manage the water bankruptcy conditions, different scenarios considering various groundwater extraction rates and cultivation areas were defined, and the optimization model was recoded for each scenario to find the corresponding optimized cultivation pattern. To consider the competition between stakeholders for groundwater extraction, a non-cooperative 3-player game was applied to achieve a compromise for different combinations of management strategies, which maximizes the profit and yields the best cultivation scenario. Applicability of the proposed methodology was investigated in an aquifer system located in Golestan Province, Iran, including three regions (Minudasht, Azadshahr, and Gonbade-kavus). Results show that the proposed method is capable of managing the bankruptcy conditions by generating greater agricultural profit and reducing groundwater drawdowns.

Transitioning out of Open Access: A Closer Look at Institutions for Management of Groundwater Rights in France, California, and Spain

AbstractMany regions around the world are transitioning out of open access to groundwater resources in order to tackle over extraction by irrigated agriculture. However, the state has limited capacities to regulate effectively agricultural groundwater use. This paper evaluates how users and public authorities can co‐manage groundwater extraction by agriculture. Based on Schlager and Ostrom’s “bundle of rights” framework, the paper examines how decisions over access and use of groundwater resources are made in France, Spain and California. The three cases share a common strive to involve groundwater users in decisions over how to reduce over extraction of groundwater resources. However, different choices were made regarding the institutional set‐up for user involvement in allocation decisions. The paper presents the diversity of institutional arrangements influencing groundwater allocations in the three cases, and the relative involvement and power of users and public authorities over these institutions. The papers show the different ways in which “comanagement” may be made operational for managing agricultural groundwater use.