@article{86f88ed4059245ed9795cd2f09ed0b92,
title = "Critical issues affecting groundwater quality governance and management in the United States",
abstract = "Groundwater is increasingly important for meeting water demand across the United States (U.S.). Forward thinking governance and effective management are necessary for its sustainable use. In the U.S., state governments are primarily responsible for groundwater governance (i.e., making laws, policies, and regulations) and management (i.e., implementation of laws, policies, and regulations). This decentralized system results in diverse strategies and practices. We surveyed a water quality professional from each state to better understand commonalities and differences across states. These professionals identify a wide assortment of groundwater issues and concerns, including quality and quantity impairment, staffing and budget issues, private well vulnerability, and overdraft. Respondents indicate contamination problems from natural and anthropogenic sources. Most respondents report that their states have significantly changed groundwater quality policy during the past 30 years. While most states have multiple funding sources for water quality programs, program budgets have decreased in the last decade, thereby hindering effective implementation of new policies. Over half of respondents indicate that water-quality/water-level monitoring and increased groundwater pumping will require more attention over the next decade. Several respondents anticipate groundwater regulation changes in the next five years. We discuss how our findings align with current groundwater uses in the U.S.",
keywords = "Groundwater governance, Groundwater management, United States, Water policy",
author = "Petersen-Perlman, {Jacob D.} and Megdal, {Sharon B.} and Gerlak, {Andrea K.} and Mike Wireman and Zuniga-Teran, {Adriana A.} and Varady, {Robert G.}",
note = "Funding Information: Funding: This work was funded primarily by the Ground Water Research and Education Foundation (GWREF) through a grant entitled “A Survey of Groundwater Governance and Management: Strategies, Challenges, and Opportunities Connected to Water Quality.” Additional support was provided by the Technology Research Initiative Fund administered by the University of Arizona Office for Research, Discovery & Innovation, funded under Proposition 301, the Arizona Sales Tax for Education Act in 2000. We also acknowledge support from the International Water Security Network, funded by Lloyd{\textquoteright}s Register Foundation (LRF, London, UK), a charitable foundation in the United Kingdom helping to protect life and property by supporting engineering-related education, public engagement and the application of research; and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI, Montevideo, Uruguay) for Project SGP-CRA005, supported by U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF, Alexandria, VA, USA) Grant No. GEO-1138881; and for Research Project CRN3056, supported by NSF Grant No. GEO-1128040. Funding Information: This work was funded primarily by the GroundWater Research and Education Foundation (GWREF) through a grant entitled {"}A Survey of Groundwater Governance and Management: Strategies, Challenges, and Opportunities Connected to Water Quality.{"} Additional support was provided by the Technology Research Initiative Fund administered by the University of Arizona Office for Research, Discovery & Innovation, funded under Proposition 301, the Arizona Sales Tax for Education Act in 2000. We also acknowledge support from the InternationalWater Security Network, funded by Lloyd's Register Foundation (LRF, London, UK), a charitable foundation in the United Kingdom helping to protect life and property by supporting engineering-related education, public engagement and the application of research; and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI, Montevideo, Uruguay) for Project SGP-CRA005, supported by U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF, Alexandria, VA, USA) Grant No. GEO-1138881; and for Research Project CRN3056, supported by NSF Grant No. GEO-1128040.We thank MikeWireman and Jon Kenning for valuable input throughout the project. We also thank those who tested the survey and the state water professionals for their responses. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 by the authors.",
year = "2018",
month = jun,
day = "5",
doi = "10.3390/w10060735",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "10",
journal = "Water (Switzerland)",
issn = "2073-4441",
publisher = "Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)",
number = "6",
}