Research to support sustainable groundwater development and governance in Laos

Lao PDR (Laos) is a landlocked country of around seven million people situated in the heart of the Mekong region (Fig. 1). Listed amongst the 47 UN-designated Least Developed Countries, its level of socioeconomic development is comparable to that of neighboring Myanmar and Cambodia but significantly lower than China, Thailand and Vietnam. Subsistence farming is the primary means of food security and income for nearly 80% of all households. Poorly developed, water-rich countries such as Laos have historically paid most attention to surface water resources, with limited consideration to groundwater. The attention to groundwater in Laos received a much-needed boost through a four year research project (2012-2016) funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE). The project, ‘Enhancing the Resilience and Productivity of Rainfed Dominated Systems in Lao PDR through Sustainable Groundwater Use’, was the first multi-disciplinary research effort focused on groundwater issues in the country. With the project completed (ACIAR 2016), this article examines its contributions in the areas of science, policy and capacity development and highlights the main lessons learnt during its implementation. These learnings may resonate with those actors already involved in, or considering involvement in applied groundwater research under similar conditions

Groundwater research and management: integrating science into management decisions. Proceedings of IWMI-ITP-NIH International Workshop on "Creating Synergy Between Groundwater Research and Management in South and Southeast Asia," Roorkee, India, 8-9 February 2005

Groundwater management / Governance / Groundwater development / Artificial recharge / Water quality / Aquifers / Groundwater irrigation / Water balance / Simulation models / Watershed management / Water harvesting / Decision making / South East Asia / Bangladesh / China / India / Nepal / Pakistan / Syria

Groundwater Quality Impacts Due to Population Growth and Land Use Exploitation in the Coastal Aquifers of Sri Lanka

Previous studies have tried to investigate the impact of agriculture on groundwater quality of coastal aquifers but not tried to assess the overall water quality impacts considering sea water intrusion effects, vulnerability, and public health impacts. This study is focused on studying vulnerability of coastal aquifers producing groundwater quality concerns in the presence of sea water intrusion, population growth, and agriculture dominated land use activities

The international training and research program on groundwater governance in Asia: Theory and practice

CGIAR-CPWF Project “International Training and Research Program on Groundwater Governance in Asia: Theory and Practice” was designed and implemented by International Water Management Institute (IWMI) to address the deficiencies in human capacity of managing groundwater in the two large basins of the world- the Indus-Gangetic basin and the Yellow River basin. The basic premise of the project was that proper groundwater management needs to be built on informed knowledge of professionals from the region, with emphasis on inter-disciplinary knowledge and understanding of the actual groundwater situation in the rural areas. This objective was achieved through development of an international courseware on the subject and actual enhancement of the capacity of existing institutions and about 80 professionals working at junior and senior levels and engaged in media dissemination in the basin states involved in groundwater research and management so that they could undertake more integrated, multi-disciplinary and sustainable approaches to groundwater governance

Chemical characteristics of tsunami-affected groundwater and lagoon on the east coast of Sri Lanka

Previous studies have shown that groundwater on the east coast of Sri Lanka was heavily impacted by salinization due to the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami. This study follows up on these initial studies to investigate the effect of the onset of the first rainy season after the tsunami on groundwater quality in the same areas. The results show that approx. 620 mm of rain falling between September and November 2005 improved the water quality with respect to salinity, decreasing the average well water salinity levels from 1250 to 950 μS/cm. A slight elevation in salinity levels in flooded vs. non-flooded wells (1240 vs. 780 μS/cm) in November indicated prolonged salinity impacts in the tsunami-affected areas. As opposed to salinity, groundwater quality deteriorated significantly with the first rains following the dry season with respect to nutrient content. Average well nitrate concentration was doubled (from 7.7 to 17.0 mg/l), with number of wells exceeding the WHO standard of 50 mg/l increasing from 2 to 9% with the rains

Tsunamiens spor i grundvandet - erfaringer fra undersøgelser i Sri Lanka

Tsunamien, som opstod efter det kæmpemæssige underjordiske jordskælv tæt ved Sumatra i det Indiske Ocean d. 24. december, 2004, forårsagede pludselig og vidtomfavnende død og ødelæggelser i sit umiddelbare kølvand i de omkringliggende lande. Men efter bølgerne havde trukket sigtilbage, stod det klart, at noget andet var stærkt medtaget af tunamien, som indirekte ville påvirke den lokale befolkning i lang tid efter, nemlig grundvandet og vandforsyningen

Groundwater: critical for sustainable development.

Groundwater represents close to 99% of all unfrozen fresh water in the world. Groundwater makes up one third of all water being used, provides almost half of the world’s population with domestic water1, and is the source of almost half of the water used for irrigation worldwide

Groundwater recharge influenced by ephemeral river flow and land use in the semiarid Limpopo Province of South Africa

Determining the sustainability of groundwater use in drylands with high climate variability is complex. Central to this determination is an understanding of groundwater recharge and associated processes and controls. Groundwater recharge in drylands can occur by diffuse and focused recharge (focused recharge being associated with intense episodic rainfall events and ephemeral river flow, predicted to increase and intensify with climate change). This study evaluated the relative significance and dominant controls on these two recharge processes. Ten groundwater hydrographs with multidecadal observations were collated from the Limpopo Province, South Africa, based on their proximity to river channels and rain gauges, representing diversity in local climate, landscape, vegetation, and hydrogeological conditions. The hydrographs showed that groundwater-level rises are sensitive to rainfall intensity during the rainy season, with generally larger increases after years with large episodic rainfall events, which disproportionately contribute to groundwater replenishment. Recharge processes and annual recharge volumes were quantified using the water-table fluctuation method and the numerical model HYDRUS-1D. This allowed for the inference of additional recharge contributions from focused recharge in proximity to ephemeral rivers, up to a factor of five relative to diffuse recharge. The analysis revealed synchronicity and linear correlation between annual river discharge and recharge close to the river, substantiating the importance of focused recharge close to the river network. The study showed that recharge in drylands is subject to large spatial and temporal variation and that consideration of focused and episodic recharge is critically important for managing groundwater resources at various scales in these regions