Local groundwater governance in Yemen: building on traditions and enabling communities to craft new rules

Investigating a spatial approach to groundwater quantity management using radius of influence with a case study of South Africa

“…A spatial approach to groundwater management using well spacing is not uncommon in developing countries where local communities have chosen to manage their groundwater resources themselves (Foster et al, 2000;Van Steenbergen, 2006;Taher et al, 2012). Typical well-spacing distances can range from 250 m to 1 km.…”

“…While well-spacing does not appear to be effective in addressing intensive groundwater use in the Great Plains Aquifer, USA (Gardner et al, 1997;Sophocleous, 2010), there are several examples from countries such as Yemen where local communities are effectively managing groundwater use using a well-spacing approach (Van Steenbergen, 2006;Taher et al, 2012). Indeed, current thinking on groundwater governance (Taher et al 2012, Wijnen et al, 2012 advocates using simple rules that can be practically monitored, where rule violations can be practically detected and enforced, rather than using rules that are difficult to determine scientifically, difficult to monitor and difficult to enforce. Taher et al (2012) rank spatial methods as the first and third most useful variables to meet these challenges while quantity allocations -the de facto approach in many countries -were ranked 19 th out of 22.…”

“…Indeed, current thinking on groundwater governance (Taher et al 2012, Wijnen et al, 2012 advocates using simple rules that can be practically monitored, where rule violations can be practically detected and enforced, rather than using rules that are difficult to determine scientifically, difficult to monitor and difficult to enforce. Taher et al (2012) rank spatial methods as the first and third most useful variables to meet these challenges while quantity allocations -the de facto approach in many countries -were ranked 19 th out of 22. According to Brozowic et al (2006) well-spacing regulations have been entirely ignored in the economic literature, even though well-spacing, in some conditions, might be more effective and appropriate than (volumetric) quotas.…”

Using backcasting to explore ways to improve the national water department’s contribution to good groundwater governance in South Africa

“…Although isolated cases of good local groundwater governance can be found where national-level bureaucracies play no role (Mukherji & Shah, 2005;Taher, Bruns, Bamaga, Al-Weshali, & van Steenbergen, 2012;van Steenbergen, 2006), there is a consensus that support by national public service departments can play a very important role in good groundwater governance (Aarnoudse, Bluemling, Wester, & Qu, 2012;López-Gunn & Cortina, 2006;López-Gunn, Willaarts, Rica, Corominas, & Llamas, 2013). (In South Africa, national, provincial and local government departments are referred to collectively as the Public Service.…”

Groundwater-based agriculture in arid land : the case of Azraq Basin, Jordan

“…Ghazouani et al (2012) also demonstrated that farmers are reasonably aware of the constraints of Nefzawa oasis in the south of Tunisia environment due to their long term practical experience. Yet, examples of pure community-based management of local aquifers are hard to find, with Yemen standing out as a country where some local regulations have sometimes been put in place (Taher et al, 2012).…”