Proper Management of Groundwater

Part I. Understand the Problem

At least 71 percent Earth is comprised of water gaining its nickname “Blue Planet”. About 0.3
percent of this is the only water accessible and sourced by humans making it a finite resource
that evidently calls for the need of its proper management. About 98 percent of the planet’s
available fresh water is groundwater. This extraction of this resource is considered an ancient
art, but in the 1950’s up to the present time, groundwater has been facing the threat of depletion
due to the rise of population and the constant booming of economic development.
Part II. Devise a Plan
Proper resource management and groundwater sustainability
Gleeson et. al. (2020) defined groundwater sustainability as maintaining long-term,
dynamically stable storage [and flow] of high-quality groundwater using inclusive, equitable, and
long-term governance and management and according to Cuthbert et. al. (2019), this concept
depends on the environment, varying globally from arid to humid.
The figure below are the different perspectives on groundwater sustainability as summarized
from Rudestam and Langridge (2014) as presented in the article Groundwater sustainability: a
review of the interactions between science and policy can be adapted in devising a groundwater
sustainability plan in the country.

Part III. Carry out the plan

According article Groundwater sustainability: a review of the interactions between science and
policy concluded that effective groundwater sustainability policy implementation requires an
iterative scientific evaluation that (i) engages stakeholders in a participatory process through
collaborative modeling and social learning; (ii) provides improved understanding of the
coevolving scenarios between surface water-groundwater systems, ecosystems, and human
activities; and (iii) acknowledges and addresses uncertainty in our scientific knowledge and the
diversity of societal preferences using multi-model uncertainty analysis and adaptive
management. Although the development of such a transdisciplinary research approach, which
connects policy, science, and practice for groundwater sustainability evaluation, is still in its
infancy worldwide, we find that research towards groundwater sustainability is growing at a
much faster rate than groundwater research as a whole.
In the country, one of the earliest attempts at systematic management of water has been the
adoption of a National Water Code in 1976 Presidential Decree 1067 (1976). Other laws such
as RA No. 8041, National Water Crisis Act of 1995, R.A. No. 198, Creation of Provincial Water
Utilities (1973), P.D. No. 1586, Environmental Impact Statement System (1978), Presidential
Decree No. 424 and Republic Act No. 7160, Local Government Code are laws implemented in
the country pertaining to water use and management. According to the Greenpeace report on
the state of water in the Philippines published in October 2007, theoretically, the freshwater
storage capacity and the high rate of precipitation assure the country an adequate supply for its
agricultural, industrial and domestic uses. However, seasonal variations are considerable and
geographic distribution is biased, often resulting in water shortages in highly populated areas,
especially during the dry season. The report also mentioned that data from the JICA Master
Plan on Water Resource Management in the Philippines estimate that only 1,907 cubic meters
of fresh water would be available to each person each year, making the Philippines second to
the lowest among Southeast Asian countries with fresh water availability (PEM 2003). This calls
for the need to do groundwater research to devise, formulate and implement an effective
groundwater sustainability plan in the country grounded and based on the proper
implementations of laws governing the proper management of this finite resource.
Part IV. Look back
The threat revolving around the world’s groundwater resource stems from the continuous rise of
the world’s population and fast-rising economy built upon it, thus increasing the demand of the
resource’s use to meet the present-day demand. The proper management as any other plans
needs a comprehensive study of different areas revolving around the resource, it needs a
collaboration of the scientific community and policy-making bodies in the country to attain the
goal of properly managing groundwater. Civil engineering often impacts the said resource as
construction works involve dewatering and the construction of foundations itself create barriers
and pathways hindering the groundwater flow. However, while it poses significant impacts, it
can also provide solutions, Fekete et. al. (2015) said that engineering solutions to address water
management challenges played significant roles in the past in areas such as access to clean
water and sanitation, providing water for irrigation, offering protection against floods, and
allowing power generation. The involvement of this industry in devising the plan will assure the
success of the plan’s implementation.
References:
Ahmed S Elshall et al 2020 Environ. Res. Lett. 15 093004
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab8e8c/pdf/Retrived 06 November 2021
Greenpeace Southeast Asia. The state of water resources in the Philippines. October 2007
https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-philippines-stateless/2019/05/11e8551c-11e8551c-
the-state-of-water-in-the-phil.pdf/Retrived 06 November 2021
Fekete, B.M., Bogárdi, J.J. Role of engineering in sustainable water management. Earth
Perspectives 2, 2 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40322-014-0027-7