The sustainability of crucial earth resources, such as groundwater, is a critical issue. We consider groundwater sustainability a value-driven process of intra- and intergenerational equity that balances the environment, society, and economy. Synthesizing hydrogeological science and current sustainability concepts, we emphasize three sustainability approaches: setting multigenerational sustainability goals, backcasting, and managing adaptively. As most aquifer problems are long-term problems, we propose that multigenerational goals (50 to 100 years) for water quantity and quality that acknowledge the connections between groundwater, surface water, and ecosystems be set for many aquifers. The goals should be set by a watershed- or aquifer-based community in an inclusive and participatory manner. Policies for shorter time horizons should be developed by backcasting, and measures implemented through adaptive management to achieve the long-term goals. Two case histories illustrate the importance and complexity of a multigenerational perspective and adaptive management. These approaches could transform aquifer depletion and contamination to more sustainable groundwater use, providing groundwater for current and future generations while protecting ecological integrity and resilience.

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Abstract. This study analyzed and quantified the spatial patterns and time-variability of rainfall in Peninsular Malaysia on monthly, yearly and monsoon temporal scales. We first obtained an overview of rainfall patterns through the analysis of 16 point data sources. The results led to choosing three distinct regions, i.e.~the east coast, inland and west coast regions. For detailed analysis, Shepard's interpolation scheme was applied to the station data to produce daily rainfall fields on a 0.05 degree resolution grids for the period 1971–2006. The rainfall characteristics in time and space derived from a frequency analysis were found to be distinctly different in these three regions. In the east coast region, monthly rainfall shows a significant periodicity dominated by an annual cycle, followed by a half-year cycle. The inland and west coast regions show that the dominant periodic fluctuations in the monthly rainfall are dominated by a half-year cycle, followed by an annual cycle. The long-term rainfall variability analysis shows that the dry and wet conditions in Peninsular Malaysia are not primarily governed by the ENSO events. The results from the individual regions suggest that although the relative variability is influenced by ENSO, local and regional conditions have an effect on the interannual rainfall variability, which is superimposed on the large-scale weather conditions. A significant increasing trends in annual rainfall (9.3 mm/year) and northeast monsoon rainfall (6.2 mm/monsoon) were only detected in the west coast region. No trend was found in the monthly rainfall, except for November in the west coast region. The spatial variation analysis shows that the east coast region, which received substantially higher amounts of rainfall during the northeast monsoon, has lower spatial rainfall variability and a more uniform rainfall distribution than other regions. A larger range for the monthly spatial variation was observed in the west coast region.

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Significant advances in regional groundwater flow modeling have been driven by the demand to predict regional impacts of human inferences on groundwater systems and associated environment. The wide availability of powerful computers, user friendly modeling systems and GIS stimulates an exponential growth of regional groundwater modeling. Large scale transient groundwater models have been built to analyze regional flow systems, to simulate water budget components changes, and to optimize groundwater development scenarios. This paper reviews the historical development of regional groundwater modeling. Examples of Death Valley and Great Artesian Basin transient groundwater models are introduced to show the application of large scale regional groundwater flow models. Specific methodologies for regional groundwater flow modeling are descried and special issues in regional groundwater flow modeling are discussed. ª 2011, China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and Peking University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.