Introduction to special section on Groundwater Economics and Policy

Anastasios Xepapadeas and Phoebe Koundouri ()

No 406, DEOS Working Papers from Athens University of Economics and Business

Abstract: Historically, surface water has been the main source of water for human consumption, as it was easy and cost- effective to access. However, increased rainfall shortages have resulted in increased use of groundwater to satisfy the ever increasing domestic, agricultural, and environmental/ ecosystem preservation water demands. Thus, during the second half of the 20th century, groundwater withdrawals have increased, up to the point that they now supply one third of the world's population [United Nations, 2001]. This extensive use of groundwater in many parts of the world has resulted in water level drawdown, groundwater depletion and related biodiversity loss, and pollution and seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers. As a result, groundwater management and the search for relevant backstop technol- ogies and substitutes has become a practical concern in many arid and semiarid regions throughout the world.

Date: 2004-12-30
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