The Institutional Dimensions of Groundwater Recharge: A Special Collection

Groundwater pumping exceeds naturally occurring recharge in many regions of the world. The resulting impacts to groundwater systems adversely affect human and environmental systems. Climate change adds urgency, as the combination of more extreme flood and drought regimes coupled with intensifying demand further push groundwater resources out of balance. In many or most groundwater basins, some reduction in groundwater extraction will be necessary to reduce outflows from stressed basins. Increasing inflows to these basins through Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is increasingly looked to as a mechanism to help bring aquifers into sustainable balance.

In this special collection, we examine deployment of MAR in examples from around the USA to illustrate the range of institutional approaches used as well as how those relate to the drivers and objectives of MAR. The overarching impetus for this work is the recognition that in many cases institutional elements are as important, or more important, than technical challenges to MAR.

The collection of 10 articles in the journal Case Studies in the Environment was co-edited by U Mass Professor Anita Milman(opens in a new tab) and CLEE Water Program Director Michael Kiparsky.

Explore the collection: