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Ending groundwater overdraft in hydrologic-economic systems

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Abstract

Groundwater overdraft occurs when extraction exceeds both natural and induced aquifer recharge over long periods. While ultimately unsustainable and invariably having detrimental effects, overdrafting aquifers is common and may be temporarily beneficial within a long-term water management strategy. Once a region chooses to end overdrafting, water management must change if increased water scarcity is to be avoided. Integrated water-management models allow aquifers and overdraft to be analyzed as part of a regional water-supply system. Incorporating economics into the model establishes a framework for evaluating the costs and effects of groundwater management actions on the entire system. This economic-engineering approach is applied in a case study of the Tulare Basin in California, USA, where previous economic studies showed optimal pumping depths have been reached. A hydro-economic optimization model is used to study the economic effects and water management actions that accompany ending overdraft. Results show that when overdraft is prohibited, groundwater banking using conjunctive-use infrastructure built between 1990 and 2005 largely annuls the cost of not overdrafting. The integrated economic-engineering approach quantifies effects of groundwater policies on complex regional water-resource systems and suggests promising strategies for reducing the economic costs of ending aquifer overexploitation.

Résumé

La surexploitation de l’eau souterraine intervient lorsque le prélèvement dépasse la recharge à la fois naturelle et induite de l’aquifère sur de longues périodes.Quoique non durable en fin de compte et ayant invariablement des conséquences préjudiciables, surexploiter les aquifères est courant et peut être avantageux temporairement dans une stratégie de gestion de l’eau à long terme. Une fois qu’une région choisit de mettre fin à la surexploitation, la gestion de l’eau doit changer si une rareté accrue de l’eau doit être évitée. Les modèles de gestion intégrés de l’eau permettent aux aquifères et à la surexploitation d’être analysés en tant qu’éléments d’un système régional d’alimentation en eau. L’incorporation de l’économique dans le modèle établit un cadre pour évaluer les coûts et les conséquences des actions de gestion de l’eau souterraine sur le système dans son entier. Cette approche d’ingénierie économique est appliquée à une étude de cas du Basin de Tulare en Californie, U.S.A., où des études économiques antérieures ont montré que des profondeurs optimales de pompage ont été atteintes. Un modèle d’optimisation hydro-économique est utilisé pour étudier les conséquences économiques et les actions de gestion de l’eau qui accompagnent l’arrêt de la surexploitation. Les résultats montrent que lorsque la surexploitation est interdite, le prélèvement d’eau souterraine mettant en œuvre l’infrastructure pour l’emploi conjoint des eaux superficielles et souterianes construites entre 1990 et 2005, annule dans une large mesure le coût de l’arrêt de la surexploitation. L’approche intégrée d’ingénierie économique quantifie les conséquences des politiques de l’eau souterraine sur des systèmes régionaux complexes de ressources en eau et suggère des stratégies prometteuses pour la réduction des coûts économiques résultant de l’arrêt de la surexploitation de l’aquifère.

Resumen

La sobre-explotación de aguas subterráneas ocurre cuando la extracción excede tanto la recarga natural como inducida del acuífero en períodos prolongados. Aunque en última instancia es una práctica no sustentable y que invariablemente tiene efectos perjudiciales, la sobre-explotación de acuíferos es frecuente y puede ser temporalmente beneficiosa dentro de una estrategia de corto plazo de gestión del agua. Cuando en una región se decide finalizar con la sobre-explotación, la gestión del recurso debe cambiar a fin de evitar la escasez de agua. Los modelos de gestión integrada de los recursos hídricos permiten analizar los acuíferos y la sobre-explotación como partes de un sistema regional de abastecimiento de agua. La incorporación en el modelo de aspectos económicos establece el marco para evaluar los costos y efectos sobre el sistema completo de acciones relacionadas con la gestión del agua subterránea. Esta aproximación económica-ingenieril se aplica a un caso de estudio en la Cuenca Tulare (California, USA), donde los estudios económicos previos demuestran que se han alcanzado profundidades óptimas de bombeo. Se usa un modelo de optimización hidro-económico para estudiar los efectos económicos y las medidas de gestión que se relacionan con la finalización de la sobre-explotación. Los resultados muestran que cuando se prohíbe la sobre-explotación, el almacenamiento de agua subterránea usando infraestructura de uso conjunto construida entre 1990 y 2005, anula en gran parte el costo de no sobre-explotar. La aproximación integrada económica-ingenieril cuantifica el efecto de políticas hídricas en sistemas regionales de recursos hídricos y sugiere estrategias promisorias para reducir los costos económicos de la finalización de la sobre-explotación de acuíferos.

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Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by the California Energy Commission while the first author was a graduate student at the University of California at Davis. The authors thank C. Brush, B. Wagner, V. Kretsinger and an anonymous reviewer for comments that improved the paper. T. Haslebacher is thanked for providing information and insights on local hydrogeology. We also thank G. Marques, M. Pulido-Velázquez, M. Jenkins, and S. Tanaka for useful discussions on conjunctive use and help with modeling conjunctive use for the Tulare Basin.

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  1. University College London Environment Institute and Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, University College London, Gower Str., London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Julien J. Harou

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California - Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Jay R. Lund

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  1. Julien J. Harou
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Correspondence to Julien J. Harou.

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Harou, J.J., Lund, J.R. Ending groundwater overdraft in hydrologic-economic systems. Hydrogeol J 16, 1039–1055 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-008-0300-7

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