Purpose

To provide municipal decision-makers with the means to make informed groundwater management decisions with regard to pollution threats and their mitigation.

Outputs

1. Diagnostic methodology for assessing pollution threats and their likely impact.

2. A decision-support system (DSS) with guidelines on pollution management options and information needs and sources.

Outputs have been prepared in collaboration with four partners from three developing countries: India, Bangladesh and the Kyrgyz Republic. The project began with a planning workshop in the UK.

Both the general approach and detailed contents of the outputs have been informed by local urban management needs relayed by partners. As a consequence, there is a strong emphasis on the collection and evaluation of cross-disciplinary data, from groundwater conditions to groundwater uses and users. This data, essential for informed decision-making is often absent in developing countries.

With DFID, World Bank and other support, BGS has been involved in urban groundwater research for many years, and in many different countries. This project also draws on this wider experience, and will help inform future BGS work in this area.

Diagnostic

The diagnostic, or Groundwater Assessment (output 1), is intended to generate the information needed to support decision-making under (2).

A three-step process is presented to assess rapidly the groundwater situation - including groundwater conditions, users and uses and economic importance - in a particular city:

1. An urban groundwater questionnaire is presented to help identify and measure a consistent set of data. This is available as a digital database and hard copy;

2. An urban groundwater profile is outlined to help order, analyse and evaluate the data generated; and

3. A framework for a consultation exercise is suggested, to initiate dialogue on priorities and options, and to help validate the results of the questionnaire and profile.

The tools can be used in different combinations according to the needs of the user. For example, if basic data collection (and identification of data gaps) is all that is needed, then users can apply the questionnaire only; if guidance is needed on a complete groundwater assessment process, then users can apply all three tools.

Decision Support System

The DSS is intended to provide guidance on identifying, comparing and selecting alternative groundwater management options in the context of actual, or potential, groundwater pollution. It is linked to the Groundwater Assessment described above.

A three stage process is suggested to reach a preferred policy option, or package:

1. Groundwater pollution risk and pollution impact assessments are combined to give an indication of problem source, type, scale, development and priority. This element forms the core of the DSS, and is available as a series of hard copy tables and guidance notes and as a computer-based spreadsheet programme;

2. Problems identified in (1) above are matched with potentially appropriate management options to produce a list of possible responses; and

3. To determine which options might be feasible and effective in different urban settings, a range of performance criteria against which options might be evaluated are set out.

A variety of tools have been prepared to help urban planners develop sound groundwater management policies. These tools are designed to be locally managed, rapidly applied and participatory, and have been developed with the assistance of overseas partners. They are available in both manual (hard copy) and electronic (computer-based) formats.

The tools developed are currently being applied (and further refined) in at least one urban area even though the project has only just finished, and further application will be encouraged via wide dissemination.

Tools for Assessing and Managing Groundwater Pollution Threats in Urban Areas: Part 1 - Groundwater Assessment. BGS Technical Report (forthcoming).

Tools for Assessing and Managing Groundwater Pollution Threats in Urban Areas: Part 2 - Decision Support Guidelines. BGS Technical Report (forthcoming).

Tel: 01491 692300
Fax: 01491 692345
Email: r.calow@bgs.ac.uk