An informative new internet-based guide is now available to complement the highly- successful policy paper on groundwater in urban development published in 1998 by the World Bank. Produced by the same British Geological Survey team, and similarly funded by the DFID as part of the KAR programme, the guide is now up and running on the Groundwater topic Area of the Water Resources Management sector of the World Bank's own website (go to http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/thematic.htm then follow the links to Water Resources Management, Sector & Themes and Groundwater).

The guide responds to a need identified by the Bank's Transportation, Water and Urban Development Division for clear advice on the sustainable development and management of urban groundwater. The brief was to provide the information in a readily accessible, well-illustrated and easy-to-understand format. The guide is structured as a series of 8 Questions and Answers. Each Answer leads to more in-depth information, available either to download as reference material or to view on-line. The site .provides 19 reports, fact-sheets or guidance notes, a simple spreadsheet-based diagnostic tool and 15 concise illustrative examples drawn from cities all over the developing world. There is no need to log on as the site is completely public-access.

Tel: +44 1491 838800
Fax: +44 1491 692345
E-mail: blm@bgs.ac.uk