arrangements that deliver these water savings and technologies while at the same time limiting further exploitation of groundwater for irrigated agriculture and industrial production (Foster et al. 2004).
Fig. 1.13 Location map of the North China Plain showing the distribution of areas exhibiting marked groundwater depletion as a consequence of aquifer over‐exploitation of the Quaternary aquifer system (Fig. 1.14) (Foster et al. 2004).
(Source: Foster, S., Garduno, H., Evans, R. et al. (2004) Quaternary Aquifer of the North China Plain – assessing and achieving groundwater resource sustainability. Hydrogeology Journal 12, 81–93. © 2004, Springer Nature.)
Fig. 1.14 Cross‐section of the North China Plain showing the general hydrogeological setting of the Quaternary aquifer system which includes the gently sloping piedmont plain and associated major alluvial fans, the main alluvial plain (Heilongang) and the coastal plain around the margin of the Bohai Sea (Foster et al. 2004).
(Source: Foster, S., Garduno, H., Evans, R. et al. (2004) Quaternary Aquifer of the North China Plain – assessing and achieving groundwater resource sustainability. Hydrogeology Journal 12, 81–93. © 2004, Springer Nature.)
Table 1.7 Key groundwater issues in the North China Plain listed according to hydrogeological setting (Fig. 1.14) (Foster et al. 2004).
(Source: Foster, S., Garduno, H., Evans, R. et al. (2004) Quaternary Aquifer of the North China Plain – assessing and achieving groundwater resource sustainability. Hydrogeology Journal 12, 81–93. © 2004, Springer Nature.)
| Groundwater issue | Hydrogeological setting | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Piedmont plain | Flood plain | Coastal plain | |
| Falling water table of shallow freshwater aquifer | +++a | +++ | + |
| Depletion of deep freshwater aquifer | 0b | +++ | ++ |
| Risk of shallow aquifer and/or soil salinization | 0 | ++ | +++ |
| Groundwater pollution from urban and industrial wastewater | +++ | + | 0 |
Notes:
a +++, very important; ++, important; +, minor importance; 0, not important.
b Effects of excessive abstraction may be reflected in the overlying shallow freshwater aquifer which is here in hydraulic continuity.
1.8 Groundwater resources in developing countries
It remains one of the greatest challenges for the future to provide the basic amenity of a safe and reliable supply of drinking water to the entire world’s population. Despite the efforts of governments, charities and aid agencies, many villagers have to walk hundreds of metres to obtain drinking water from sources that may be unprotected from contamination (Fig. 1.15). Pollution sources include unsewered pit latrines to dispose of human wastes, inorganic fertilizers and pesticides used in an effort to secure self‐sufficiency in food production and industrial wastes in urban areas.
In the developing world, groundwater is extensively used for drinking water supplies, especially in smaller towns and rural areas, where it is often the cheapest source. Groundwater schemes consist typically of large numbers of boreholes, often drilled on an uncontrolled basis, providing untreated, unmonitored and often unconnected supplies. Shallower dug wells continue to be constructed in some cases. Better yielding boreholes (100 L s−1) are quite widely developed in larger towns to provide piped supplies. Even in these cases, raw water monitoring and treatment are often limited and intermittent.
The Third World Water Forum held in Osaka, Japan, in March 2003 emphasized issues relating to the development and management of groundwater and recommended that many developing nations need to appreciate their social and economic dependency on groundwater and to invest in strengthening institutional provisions and building institutional capacity for its improved management. International development agencies and banks were urged to give higher priority to supporting realistic initiatives to strengthen governance of groundwater resources and local aquifer management. Future sustainable livelihoods, food security and key ecological systems in developing nations will be dependent on such initiatives.
Fig. 1.15 Collection of water for domestic use from a hand‐pumped tube well drilled in Precambrian metamorphic rock in the Uda Walawe Basin, Sri Lanka.
As examples of the significance of groundwater in leading the economic development of rural and expanding urban areas in developing countries, Box 1.6 provides a description of the groundwater potential of the African continent and Box 1.7 describes groundwater resources in the Indo‐Gangetic Basin in South Asia.
Box 1.6 Groundwater resources potential in Africa
Currently, there are more than 300 million people in Africa without access to safe drinking water, many of whom are amongst the poorest and most vulnerable in the world (JMP 2010; Hunter et al. 2010). Even for those with access to improved water sources, there is growing evidence that domestic water use will need to increase substantially to help lift people out of poverty (Grey and Sadoff 2007; Hunter et al. 2010). In Africa, groundwater is the major source of drinking water and its use for irrigation is forecast to increase substantially to counter growing food insecurity. At present, only 5% of arable land is irrigated (Siebert et al. 2010), and there is discussion of the need to increase
