Choosing Appropriate Responses to Grounwater Depletion- Water Policy Briefing

Water Policy Briefing Series - Issue 19 - April 2006

Heavy use of groundwater leading to steady declines in water tables is a problem increasingly witnessed in many parts of the world. In an attempt to reverse this trend, water policy experts and resource managers often advocate improving irrigation efficiency, an apparent solution that is also seen as being politically palatable. Such approaches, however, are not always effective. A holistic study of a hydrologic system is needed to find out how best to deal with groundwater depletion—what the optimal solutions are.