Comparative Groundwater Workshop 3

The third workshop in the Comparative Groundwater Law and Policy Program series was held at Stanford University April 8 - 10, 2013. The workshop focused on groundwater ecosystem services—an area that is largely untouched in existing ecosystem services work. On Monday, April 8 28 participants from the US and Australia spent the day in the San Joaquin Valley touring important groundwater ecosystem spots.  The Nature Conservancy's Maurice Hall gave the group a tour of the Cosumnes River Preserve, an area  known for its ecological value and groundwater dependence. After lunch and a tour of McConnell Estates, the group headed to the Delta Channel Gates where the group got an overview of the Delta water flow, controversy surrounding the Delta as well as how the gates function in relationship to the flow and management of the Delta. The next two days, April 9 and 10, the group heard case studies and presentations from each other about groundwater ecosystems; including what a groundwater dependent ecosystem is, how we can help preserve and in some cases restore them and what challenges are faced surrounding them.

How is groundwater connected to ecosystem services

Groundwater is linked with the provision of ecosystem services in a variety of ways. Groundwater and aquifers provide the services of purifying water, storing water, supporting the land surface, providing water for rivers, and supporting economically vital “working” landscapes, and ecosystems like wetlands and forests. In turn, those groundwater-dependent landscapes and ecosystems provide services, for example food, flood protection, genetic diversity and recreation opportunities.

What could this mean for business, management and policy?

The way that we manage groundwater affects its quantity and quality, and the integrity of aquifers. This then influences the ecosystem services that groundwater and aquifers can provide. It follows that measuring ecosystem services can help inform the sustainability of groundwater management. Actively managing groundwater with a view to ecosystem services can improve the sustainability of businesses and communities that depend on these services.

Our approach

Our workshop will move forward the development of science and policies that promote groundwater sustainability. It will engage with businesses and government to explore new contexts for using groundwater ecosystem services concepts and develop tools for doing so. 

Key points for discussion:

• How should we measure groundwater ecosystem services?
• What are our existing measurement capabilities? What further tools are needed?
• What experience is there to date in law, policy and voluntary approaches to valuation and decision-making using water ecosystem services, including voluntary market-based mechanism such as off-sets?
• Where is there potential to expand the use of groundwater ecosystem services concept? How can businesses and governments benefit from doing so? What barriers and opportunities  are there to incorporating groundwater ecosystem services into  existing policies and business practices?

Grounds for water collaboration 

by Rebecca Nelson

Groundwater is a source of both promise and peril for relatively arid regions like Australia and the western US.

Depending on how you count it, groundwater makes up between a quarter and a third of water used in Australia and the US, though some arid areas depend entirely on groundwater. It supports not only cities, towns, farms, andindustry, but also species and ecosystems: rivers, wetlands, springs, floodplains, and even forests. Groundwater sources range from the iconic—take the Yellowstone geysers or the Murray River—to underground hotpots of astounding biodiversity that are unknown to most. 

Read the rest of the blog posting here