Managing Groundwater Resources for Human Security
Masahiro Murakami*, Kenji Ohara*, Fabrice Renaud** and Libor Jansky*** Kochi University of Technology,
185 Miyanokuchi, Tosayamada-cho, Kami-gun, Kochi 782-8502 Japan** The United Nations University
53-70, Jingumae 5-chome Shibuya-ku Tokyo 150-8925 JapanAbstract
Groundwater resources represent as close to 99% of the available freshwater resources and 30% of freshwater
use worldwide. It is widely used for drinking water, in industries, and dominantly for agriculture. It is estimatedthat groundwater supplies 50% of current drinking water and 30% of water for irrigation (UNESCO-WWAP,2003), with much higher shares in the arid, and drought prone groundwater dependent regions. The past decades
have seen an increased exploitation and reliance on groundwater resources, which has allowed many people tosecure their livelihoods and for regions to develop agricultural production or their industry. In the current situation,
however, many people more than 1.2 billion in developing counties don’t have access to safe drinking water orbasic sanitation. Groundwater is conceived to secure human security as well as to sustain safe water supply in thedeveloping countries. Groundwater is either opportunities or threats to human security as well as compromise or
conflict to international society. Certain policies and strategies to sustain the development and management ofgroundwater resources in the developing world will have to be elaborated through this study to secure the safewater supply.

1. Introduction
Groundwater resources represent as close to
99% of the available freshwater resourcesand 30% of freshwater use worldwide. Its has
many attractive characteristics such as limitedevapotranspiration losses and availability inlarge stored volumes for multi-annual flow
regulation; protected and less vulnerable fromsurface induced pollution; and a generally
widely accessible resource that can be
developed by limited and privately driven
investments in close relation to land use andland ownership. It is widely used for drinking

water, in industries, and dominantly foragriculture. It is estimated that groundwatersupplies 50% of current drinking water and
30% of water for irrigation (UNESCO-WWAP,2003), with much higher shares in the arid,and drought prone groundwater dependent
regions. Large parts of the groundwater
resources are trans-boundary and shared
between two or more sovereign states andtherefore referable to international anddomestic level groundwater management. The
past decades have seen an increased

exploitation and reliance on groundwater
resources, which has allowed many people tosecure their livelihoods and for regions todevelop agricultural production or theirindustry. In the current situation, however,many people more than 1.2 billion indeveloping counties don’t have access to safe
drinking
waterorbasicsanitation.
Groundwater is conceived as a basic key
element and measure to sustain safe watersupply in rural areas in the developing world.
The workshop on groundwater resources andhuman security has been carried out at Bonnin 23-25 January 2006 to identify thefollowing three major objectives.
1. Investigate the possibilities to develop
and carry out projects that relate
groundwater degradation (includingpollution) to human security byidentifying
specificareasofcollaboration with perspectives ofhuman security and water poverty.
2. Determine what additional efforts arerequired by the academics andscientific community to raise the issue
of unsustainable groundwater, water
poverty and human security.
3. Determine
thesignificanceofsocio-economic and political drivers
and of established institutions andmechanisms for effective policy andprocess and governance intervention toenhance human security

Although groundwater resources are abundant
on a global scale, it is, like all other freshwater
resources, not homogenously distributed
around the world. Some regions have large
aquifers covering an extensive area; others
have no or very little groundwater. In manyinstances, groundwater resources are being
overexploited,withwithdrawal
rates
exceeding recharge rates and depleted or
polluted by anthropogenic activities such asindustrial wastes, urban wastewater, land usechanges which affect recharge, and/or
agricultural pesticides and fertilisers, and as aconsequence the resource will lose its
attractive characteristics, as mentioned above.
Pollution can be so great that recent press
releases from the Chinese Government 1
mention that 90% of Chinese cities havepolluted groundwater and that this situation isbound to get worse with the continuous
economic boom experienced in the country,
unless pollution mitigation methods are put inplace. In as much that the increased use ofgroundwater contributes to the achievement of
the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to“halve the proportion of people who areunable to reach or to afford safe drinkingwater”, these resources should be managed bysustainable way to support the achievement ofthe MDGs.

3. Sustainability of Groundwater
Development
Unsustainable groundwater exploitation andthe vulnerability of the resource itself to other
2. Groundwater Management andMillennium Development Goals (MGDs)

anthropogenic activities either have directconsequences on populations (e.g. polluted
drinking
water,land
subsidenceinmega-cities), or represent a “creeping” threatthat will materialise in the long run(sometimes known to decision-makers – e.g.
mining of fossil water, sometimes not). In
some regions, the consequences ofunsustainable groundwater use impact onhuman livelihoods, human health and foodsecurity, three of the seven pillars of thedefinition of Human Security as defined byUNDP (1994). These impacts are either direct
or indirect by compromising the services thatcan be provided by the environment tocommunities (e.g. MEA, 2005). Superimposedon this, climate change, by affecting thehydrologic cycle (changes in precipitation
patterns and its consequences on thebiosphere), could make a difficult situationeven worse in the future. However, the IPCC
recognised that “…there has been very little
research on the potential effects of climatechange…“ on groundwater resources and thatthe panel could only present “…a series ofhypotheses” in its final report (IPCC, 2001; p199). Problems in unconfined aquifers linked
to recharge (climatic conditions) and see-level
rise are nevertheless mentioned in the report.
A complicating factor when it comes togroundwater degradation is the variability intemporal scales of the different processes
affecting the resource. For example,
groundwater flow is much slower than surface
water flow and pollution can either be
immediate or take a long time to materialise. It
often also takes little time to degrade an
aquifer and much longer time periods toreclaim it. The related practical issues include

the capacity to clean and apprehend persistentbiological and chemical pollutants in theunsaturated and saturated groundwater zones.
4. Human Security
Human security is a concept that placesemphasis on every individual in order toprotect them from threats against their lives,
livelihoods and dignity, and to help them fulfil
their abundant potential.
Furthermore, itemphasizes the importance of “protection” and“empowerment”. In other words, humansecurity seeks to protect individuals from“fears” such as conflict, spread if infectious
diseases, destruction of environment, andnatural disasters, and “threats” such as poverty,hunger, and lack of educational and healthcare services. It also aims to strengthen
people’s ability to choose and take action
against threats on their own. Groundwater isconceived as a vital essential key element toemphasize the human security perspectives.
In order to improve situations on water andsanitation, it is important to protect andempower individuals and local communities
based on the perspective of “human security”,
along with the implementation of government
level policies. Examples include adopting
methods to encourage the capacity
development and participation of inhabitants
intheinfrastructuredevelop0ment,
maintenance, management, and operation ofwater supply and irrigation systems. The
technical assistance aims to promote
self-reliance of people including women andfacilitate their active role as “promoters ofdevelopment”, through assistance to local
communities focusing on water. It is also
supports the capacity development, throughsuch activities as organization of residents andeducation related to water and sanitation,
taking into account the gender perspectives.
Furthermore, it supports socially vulnerable
including the poor who face various
difficulties such as lack of access to safe water
and water pollution control. In addition,
protecting people from risks of floods,droughts, and other natural disasters andstrengthening capacities to respond to thesesituations are important form the “humansecurity” perspective.
5. Groundwater, Environment and Risk
Management
Groundwater is an important issue thatchallenges to human security due toenvironmental hazards, creeping deteriorations,and inherent social vulnerability and risks”(UNU-EHS, 2005). Resource depletion andpollution is identified as a “creeping process”
that can negatively impact human security and,
together with land degradation, groundwater
resources degradation is a priority topic to beaddressed by the this study. This study will
have several objectives: first to increase ourknowledge on the interrelationship between
groundwater
degradation
andhumanvulnerability – which will serve as a
description of human in(security); second,through vulnerability assessment and working
with national and local representatives inselected case study areas, identify solutions toreduce groundwater-related vulnerability ofcommunities;
andthird,investigate
specifically trans-boundary issues related togroundwater and community vulnerability. In
addition, this study will initiate activities onvulnerability of rural communities to droughts

and water poverty. . This new programme will
necessarily touch on the issue of water
availability and in many cases on groundwater
management issues, and therefore have a linkwith the either experience or lesson from thepast including the success and/or un-successgroundwater development and management
policies in Japan..
6. Groundwater Resources and Community
Management
More specifically, this research proposes tostudy the link between vulnerability ofcommunities and of groundwater resources, i.e.
the reciprocal impacts that dictate how theresource is used and/or how the availability
and quality of the resource allows forsustainable living conditions for thecommunities concerned. The research withcapacity development activities will be carriedout for the case study including Senegal, Niger,
Madagascar, Tunisia, Southern Africa, Ghana,Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Thailand, and Sri Lanka. Because groundwater
degradation can take many different forms,
case studies will have to reflect different
scenarios (e.g. excessive drawdown, diffuse
pollution, point source pollution), coverdifferent hydro-climatic settings (arid andhumid) and different socio-economic settings(notably rural and urban). Work in case study
areas include (not an exhaustive list)
vulnerability assessment (which can include
e.g. farming system analysis if in a ruralsetting); precise understanding of the state andquality of the groundwater resources(including identification of all threats); andanalysis of all aspects of water management(e.g. technical, socio-political).

A case of groundwater resources management
has been examined to support the self-relianceof people in the community of Senegal in theWest Africa including women throughempowerment. The research program has been
executed by Japan’s ODA through Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Rural residents have suffered from drying
wells in Senegal, of which the region islocated in the southern edge of the Sahara
desert. JICA/MOFA has constructed the deep
wells and water supply facilities at 109
locations in the rural region through grand aid.
However, problems have been arisenafterward, including the lack of appropriate
operation and maintenance and management.
The technical assistance was given for thedevelopment as well as operation andmaintenance of water pumps in order tomaintain the water supply facilities bythemselves. At the same time, the assistanceaims to improve the management capacity of
the community water management cooperative
including the capacity building with financialindependence. The cooperative, as anorganization run with the participation of local
people, strives to select their members
democraticallyandtoincrease
thetransparency of their operations by throughinformation disclosure. A women in charge ofaccounting for the cooperative says, “we sensea mission to protect the water supply facility,
because it is us women who benefit the mostfrom the building of the facility”. Moreover,community organization deriving form thecooperative have begun such productive
activities as small scale cash crop farming andpoultry using the water. The use the surplus
funds from the water charges which have beencollected by the water management
committees as start-up capital. In this manner,
the residents now aim for the development of
the community to take their own initiative.
7. Concluding Remarks
Groundwater is either opportunities or threats
to human security as well as compromise orconflict to international society. Certain
policies and strategies to sustain thedevelopment and management of groundwater
resources in the developing world will have tobe elaborated through this study to secure thesafe water supply.
References
Arnold, G.E. and Buzás, Zs. Economic
Commission for Europe inventory oftransboundary ground water in Europe.
Ground Water 43:669-678,. 2005
Birkmann, J.. Measuring vulnerability –conceptualframeworks
andbasicfundamentals. In: Measuring Vulnerability andCoping Capacity to Hazards of Natural Origin– Concept and Methods (Ed. J. Birkamann).
UNU-Press Publication. In Press, 2006.
Eckstein, Y and Eckstein, G.E.. Transboundary
aquifers: conceptual models for developmentof international law. Ground Water
43:679-690,. 2005
Jarvis, T., Giordano, M., Puri, S., Matsumoto,K. And Wolf, A.. International borders, groundwater flow, and hydroschizophrenia. Ground
Water 43:764-7720050,
MEA (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment).
Ecosystems and Human Well-being:
Desertification Synthesis. World Resources
Institute, Washington, DC, 2005

Puri, S and Aureli, A. Transboundary aquifers:
a global program to assess, evaluate, anddevelop policy. Ground Water 43:661-668,
2005
UNDP.. Human Development Report. New
dimensions of human security. UNDP, New
York, . 1994
UNESCO-IHP. nd. Groundwater Resources
Assessment under the Pressures of Humanity
andClimate
Change(GRAPHIC).
GRAPHIC brochure, UNESCO-IHP, Paris,
2005
UNESCO-WWAP.. Water for people, waterfor life. The United Nations World Water
Development Report, UNESCO, Paris, 2003, .
UNU-EHS. Strategic directions 2005-2008.
UNU-EHS, Bonn, 2005.
Weinthal, E., Vengosh, A., Gutierrez, A. andKloppmann, W. The water crisis in the Gaza
strip : prospects for resolution. Ground Water
43:653-660, 2005.