Evolution of Developing City Groundwater Protection Policies. Stakeholder Consultation Case Studies In Bangladesh and Kyrghyzstan.

Abstract

The pressure of rapidly expanding urban populations in groundwater dependent cities in the developing world is a major groundwater management issue. City planners in emergent economies realise that water resources are finite but wrestle with the need to introduce sustainability into their plans for infrastructural improvement without unnecessarily constricting economic expansion by overly restrictive policies. Realistic considerations of enforcement ability make it vital to involve urban groundwater stakeholders as early as possible in policy development if urban aquifer protection is to stand any chance of success. The experience of two such developing cities in Bangladesh and Kyrghyzstan is described where despite a limited resource and knowledge base attempts are being made to develop a locally appropriate and acceptable groundwater protection plan along sound hydrogeological principles. In both cities, the novel exercise of stakeholder consultation was considered by participants to be a welcome innovation.

Citation

Procs of IAH 32 and ALHSUD 6 Congress, Mar del Plata, Argentina, 21-25 October 2002. pp. 11

Evolution of Developing City Groundwater Protection Policies. Stakeholder Consultation Case Studies In Bangladesh and Kyrghyzstan.

Published 1 January 2002