NGWA Event and Education Recordings Archive

During this half-hour online presentation, hear the results of a survey funded by the Ground Water Research & Education Foundation that was designed to better understand groundwater governance strategies and practices related to water quality in the United States.

As groundwater is vital as a water supply to meet increasing demands across the United States, effective groundwater governance is needed with applicable protection and management strategies aimed at ensuring sustainable use of this critical resource. In the United States, groundwater governance (making laws, policies, and regulations) and management (implementation of policy) are primarily the responsibilities of state government, resulting in considerable variability in practices across the country.

For the nationwide survey conducted, state water professionals were recruited in each state to participate. These professionals identified a wide variety of groundwater issues and concerns, including water quality and quantity impairment, staffing and budget issues, vulnerabilities of private well users, and aquifer overdraft.

Respondents also indicated problems with groundwater contamination through natural and anthropogenic causes. Most respondents indicated the existence of explicit state-level groundwater quality management goals and reported that their states have undergone significant changes to groundwater quality policy during the past 30 years. Most states have multiple funding sources for water quality programs. However, budgets for groundwater quality programs have decreased in the last 10 years, thereby limiting implementation of new policies. Respondents indicate that water quality/water level monitoring and increased groundwater pumping will require more attention over the next 10 years, with many respondents anticipating changes in groundwater regulation in the next five years within their states.