The world's first nuclear bomb was a developed in 1954 at a site near the town of Los Alamos, New Mexico. Designated as the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 1981, the 40-square-mile site is today operated by Log Alamos National Security LLC under contract to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Like other sites in the nation's nuclear weapons complex, the LANL site harbors a legacy of radioactive waste and environmental contamination. Radioactive materials and chemical contaminants have been detected in some portions of the groundwater beneath the site. Under authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the State of New Mexico regulates protection of its water resources through the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). In 1995 NMED found LANL's groundwater monitoring program to be inadequate. Consequently LANL conducted a detailed workplan to characterize the site's hydrogeology in order to develop an effective monitoring program. The study described in Plans and Practices for Groundwater Protection at the Los Alamos National Laboratory: Final Report was initially requested by NNSA, which turned to the National Academies for technical advice and recommendations regarding several aspects of LANL's groundwater protection program. The DOE Office of Environmental Management funded the study. The study came approximately at the juncture between completion of LANL's hydrogeologic workplan and initial development of a sitewide monitoring plan.

Planning for Groundwater Protection focuses on toxic substances contamination problems of groundwater in the United States and other industrially developed countries. This book discusses the potential health risks of toxic substances caused by contamination of groundwater. Organized into 14 chapters, this book starts with an overview of the method in which pollutants enter the groundwater system and the natural defense mechanisms operative in the subsurface. This text then proceeds with a discussion of the groundwater monitoring activities that are necessary for groundwater planning and protection, which includes protecting groundwater from pollution and protecting groundwater supplies from overdraft. Other chapters consider the laws and institutions that are established to protect groundwater from contamination, including the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) laws implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency. This book is a valuable resource for sanitarians, environmentalists, chemical engineers, and urban planners.

This report aims at integrating regional and country experiences and projects with regard to viable groundwater management practices for the future. It compiles and translates best available present scientific and technical knowledge on groundwater resources and their governance, which is often highly specialized, into simpler language and synoptic representations, accessible to a large public of policy and decision makers across development sectors. It serves as a technical basis for the visioning process, and for the definition of the Framework for Action on groundwater governance.This is one of 3 outputs of project GCP/GLO/277/GEF expected to be published under the names of its 5 partner organizations and widely circulated to policy and decision-makers in countries, as well as other stakeholders of groundwater governance and practionners around the world. This outputs provides the technical basis for the other two: A Global Vision for Groundwater Governance 2030 and Global Framework for Action to Achieve the Vision on Groundwater Governance.

This book addresses groundwater governance, a subject internationally recognized as crucial and topical for enhancing and safeguarding the benefits of groundwater and groundwater-dependent ecosystems to humanity, while ensuring water and food security under global change. The multiple and complex dimensions of groundwater governance are captured in 28 chapters, written by a team of leading experts from different parts of the world and with a variety of relevant professional backgrounds. The book aims to describe the state-of-the-art and latest developments regarding each of the themes addressed, paying attention to the wide variation of conditions observed around the globe. The book consists of four parts. The first part sets the stage by defining groundwater governance, exploring its emergence and evolution, framing it through a socio-ecological lens and describing groundwater policy and planning approaches. The second part discusses selected key aspects of groundwater governance. The third part zooms in on the increasingly important linkages between groundwater and other resources or sectors, and between local groundwater systems and phenomena or actions at the international or even global level. The fourth part, finally, presents a number of interesting case studies that illustrate contemporary practice in groundwater governance. In one volume, this highly accessible text not only familiarizes water professionals, decision-makers and local stakeholders with groundwater governance, but also provides them with ideas and inspiration for improving groundwater governance in their own environment.

Because water in the United State has not been traded in markets, there is no meaningful estimate of what it would cost if it were traded. But failing to establish ground water's valueâ€"for in situ uses such as sustaining wetlands as well as for extractive uses such as agricultureâ€"will lead to continued overuse and degradation of the nation's aquifers. In Valuing Ground Water an interdisciplinary committee integrates the latest economic, legal, and physical knowledge about ground water and methods for valuing this resource, making it comprehensible to decision-makers involved in Superfund cleanup efforts, local wellhead protection programs, water allocation, and other water-related management issues. Using the concept of total economic value, this volume provides a framework for calculating the economic value of ground water and evaluating tradeoffs between competing uses of it. Included are seven case studies where ground-water valuation has been or could be used in decisionmaking. The committee examines trends in ground-water management, factors that contribute to its value, and issues surrounding ground-water allocation and legal rights to its use. The book discusses economic valuation of natural resources and reviews several valuation methods. Presenting conclusions, recommendations, and research priorities, Valuing Ground Water will be of interest to those concerned about ground-water issues: policymakers, regulators, economists, attorneys, researchers, resource managers, and environmental advocates.

This book addresses the various challenges in achieving sustainable groundwater development, management, and planning in semi-arid regions, with a focus on India, and discusses advanced remote sensing and GIS techniques for the estimation and management of groundwater resources. The book is timely as there is a need for a better understanding of the various tools and methods required to efficiently and sustainably meet the growing demand for clean surface and groundwater in developing countries, and how these tools can be combined with other strategies in a multi-disciplinary fashion to achieve this goal in water-scarce regions. To wit, the book combines remote sensing and GIS techniques, runoff modeling, aquifer mapping, land use and land cover analyses, evapotranspiration estimation, crop coefficients, and water policy approaches. This will be of use to academics, policymakers, social scientists, and professionals involved in the various aspects of sustainable groundwater development, planning, and management.