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Issues of Governance, Policy, and Law in Managing Urban–Rural and Groundwater–Surface Water Connections

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Understanding and Managing Urban Water in Transition

Part of the book series: Global Issues in Water Policy ((GLOB,volume 15))

Abstract

Urban water systems increasingly are seen as one part of a complex web of diverse water sources and uses. Urban water managers can now rarely focus on one water source, or on water supply reliability alone, without considering social and environmental effects. Water laws and institutional arrangements can facilitate urban water suppliers recognizing and benefiting from connections and interactions in two core areas: between groundwater and surface water sources, and between urban and rural water supplies. This chapter will review, at a high level, how water laws and institutions can address these core areas of interaction, and encourage associated innovations. It also reviews challenges that remain in these areas. First, it discusses how water laws can provide for conjunctively managing groundwater and surface water sources through regulatory structures for managed aquifer recharge for urban supply, whether the source water derives from the urban area itself (for example, stormwater or treated wastewater), or out-of-district sources under water banking arrangements. Second, it examines how law can support connections between urban and rural water supplies, through water trading and source swapping, and agricultural use of urban wastewater. To illustrate these issues, it uses examples from Australia and the western United States—areas in which urban water suppliers face the common challenges of population growth, water scarcity, and increasing environmental demands.

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Acknowledgments

Support for this project was provided by the Dow Sustainability Fund of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr., Foundation, and the NSF Engineering Research Center for Re-inventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure (ReNUWIt).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Rebecca Nelson

  2. United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, Institute Building H03/City Road, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Rebecca Nelson

  3. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, EPFL ENAC IIE LCE, CM 1 119 (Centre Midi) Station 2, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Heather N. Bischel

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yang & Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building, 473 Via Ortega - Room 191, Stanford, CA, 94305-4020, USA

    Richard G. Luthy

  5. Law School and Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Barton H. Thompson Jr.

Authors
  1. Rebecca Nelson
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  2. Heather N. Bischel
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  3. Richard G. Luthy
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  4. Barton H. Thompson Jr.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rebecca Nelson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Natl Univ, Crawford Sch of Public Policy, Bldg 132, Canberra, Aust Capital Terr, Australia

    Quentin Grafton

  2. Fellow, ANU Centre for European Studies, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Aust Capital Terr, Australia

    Katherine A. Daniell

  3. School of Economics, University of Queensland, Brisbane St Lucia, Queensland, Australia

    Céline Nauges

  4. Water Department, BRGM, French Geological Survey, Montpellier, France

    Jean-Daniel Rinaudo

  5. Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Canberra, Aust Capital Terr, Australia

    Noel Wai Wah Chan

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Nelson, R., Bischel, H.N., Luthy, R.G., Thompson, B.H. (2015). Issues of Governance, Policy, and Law in Managing Urban–Rural and Groundwater–Surface Water Connections. In: Grafton, Q., Daniell, K., Nauges, C., Rinaudo, JD., Chan, N. (eds) Understanding and Managing Urban Water in Transition. Global Issues in Water Policy, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9801-3_22

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