Ground Water Protection Council
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Key Message
Ground water is a renewable, yet finite, resource—and it is usually taken for granted. It is generally pumped from the subsurface in the absence of a sound understanding of how much remains available for sustainable use. Overwithdrawal of ground water supplies can lead to dried-up wells and springs, shrinking wetlands, reduced stream flows and lake levels, saltwater intrusion in coastal areas, and land subsidence. These impacts have serious economic ramifications, which are only worsened when coupled with drought conditions. Unless we employ more effective ways to manage the way we use ground water, current practices of withdrawing ground water at unsustainable rates will ultimately have significant social, economic, and ecological costs.
Our land-use decisions and water-use policies must consider the interrelationship between ground water and surface water supplies and the capacity of individual watersheds to sustain existing, as well as future, water uses. To ensure the long-term availability of water and aquifer yields, we as a nation must use water more efficiently and better tailor our land- and water-use planning to effectively bridge the gap between water law and science.
“From
a sustainability perspective,
the key point is that pumping
decisions today will affect surface water
availability; however, these
effects may not be fully realized for
many years.”
USGS
Photo: Alex Marentes
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why ground water use and availability matters...
Potable fresh water is fast becoming a highly sought-after commodity—it is
being called “blue gold.” Yet the fact that all the water we have right now
is all the water we will ever have is not reflected in our demand for and
use of water. As a nation, we can no longer put off the job of answering
the essential and definitive questions of supply and demand: Will we have
enough water, and what will it cost?
The United States uses more than
83 billion gallons of fresh ground water each
day for private and public water supplies,
irrigation, livestock, manufacturing, mining,
and other purposes. (USGS, 2004)
Photo: California Department of Water Resources
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Recommended Actions
To USEPA:
- Support state efforts to develop guiding principles that state and local water planning and water-use entities should take into consideration when conserving the integrity of watersheds and ensuring adequate water supplies.
- Require better integration between surface and ground water programs and ensure that the national water strategy addresses both quality and quantity issues, including interaction between surface and ground water.
To USGS and State Geological Surveys:
- Continue to conduct research and provide information—at a scale that is useful to states and local entities—about such matters as the safe, or sustainable, yield of aquifers (and methods for determining that yield); water-use data; and delineating boundaries and water budgets of three-dimensional watersheds, including scientifically based and cost-effective methods of quantifying interaction between ground water and surface water.
To Governors and State Legislatures:
- Authorize water supply planning at the state level and encourage water supply planning at regional and local levels to conserve the integrity of watersheds and ensure adequate water supplies.
- Consider adopting ground water protection and management laws that:
- Recognize and manage the impact of ground water withdrawals on surface water.
- Link development to sustainable availability of water and other water supply infrastructure.
- Allow for and encourage techniques such as transfer-of-development rights for the purpose of ground water conservation and protection.
- Ensure coordination among agencies responsible for water quality and water use in order to determine watershed water budgets and base water withdrawal and recharge policies.
- Regulate the interbasin transfer of water in order to protect ecosystem integrity.
- Require water conservation practices for all new construction (e.g., agricultural, industrial, residential) by changing plumbing codes so that they require water conservation.
To State Agencies:
- Ensure coordination among water-quality and water-use agencies/programs and associated surface water and ground water policies/programs. Benefits of this strategy can include:
- Integration of ground water resource characterization and monitoring into state water-monitoring strategies.
- Development and implementation of water-reuse policies.
- Development of tools and policies to match water sources of various quality with the most suitable use (e.g., domestic, agricultural, industrial)
To Local Governments:
- Conduct water resources planning for long-term resource sustainability, focusing on 5- to 50-year water availability projections and plans. Incorporate this information into local comprehensive and infrastructure plans, zoning, and other local ordinances, as well as incentive programs, including:
- Ordinances that tie development to sustainable water availability.
- Ordinances and Best Management Practices (BMPs) that provide for sustainable ground water recharge and improved stormwater-management practices.
- Transfer-of-development rights and development of property tax incentive programs to encourage land owners and developers to maintain recharge areas as open spaces, helping to achieve ground water protection and conservation goals.
- Ordinances and plumbing codes designed to conserve water through improved efficiency, water reuse, water rationing, and grey-water use requirements.
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The Caney Creek Mountain Cave crayfish, or Cambarus aculabrum, inhabits
only one site in the world. This small, albino, cave-dwelling crayfish has an
overall body length reaching about 3.75 inches. Like many other cave creatures,
or troglobites, it is specially adapted to its dark surroundings, exhibiting such
features as reduced eyes, lack of pigmentation, a reduced metabolic rate,
delayed reproduction, and reduced egg production. This crayfish feeds on
organic matter carried in by cave streams or left by other animals such as bats.
Some say it can live as long as 75 years, but it is extremely sensitive to the
quality of the water in which it lives. It is adapted to the clean, filtered water
of underground streams and must have dissolved oxygen in the water for respiration.
Contamination of water by sewage, animal waste, petroleum products,
or any number of chemicals can deplete oxygen concentrations and suffocate
the cave crayfish. Source: http://www.nature.org/initiatives/programs/caves/animals/
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