This Framework for Action has been prepared to achieve the goals of the Shared Global Vision for Groundwater Governance 2030. It describes the main steps to be taken and is an urgent call for action to all who can make a difference: national and local governments, international organizations, the private sector, civil society, media, educational institutes and professional organizations — but also to well owners, groundwater users and concerned citizens everywhere.

This report aims at integrating regional and country experiences and projects with regard to viable groundwater management practices for the future. It compiles and translates best available present scientific and technical knowledge on groundwater resources and their governance, which is often highly specialized, into simpler language and synoptic representations, accessible to a large public of policy and decision makers across development sectors. It serves as a technical basis for the visioning process, and for the definition of the Framework for Action on groundwater governance.This is one of 3 outputs of project GCP/GLO/277/GEF expected to be published under the names of its 5 partner organizations and widely circulated to policy and decision-makers in countries, as well as other stakeholders of groundwater governance and practionners around the world. This outputs provides the technical basis for the other two: A Global Vision for Groundwater Governance 2030 and Global Framework for Action to Achieve the Vision on Groundwater Governance.

This book addresses groundwater governance, a subject internationally recognized as crucial and topical for enhancing and safeguarding the benefits of groundwater and groundwater-dependent ecosystems to humanity, while ensuring water and food security under global change. The multiple and complex dimensions of groundwater governance are captured in 28 chapters, written by a team of leading experts from different parts of the world and with a variety of relevant professional backgrounds. The book aims to describe the state-of-the-art and latest developments regarding each of the themes addressed, paying attention to the wide variation of conditions observed around the globe. The book consists of four parts. The first part sets the stage by defining groundwater governance, exploring its emergence and evolution, framing it through a socio-ecological lens and describing groundwater policy and planning approaches. The second part discusses selected key aspects of groundwater governance. The third part zooms in on the increasingly important linkages between groundwater and other resources or sectors, and between local groundwater systems and phenomena or actions at the international or even global level. The fourth part, finally, presents a number of interesting case studies that illustrate contemporary practice in groundwater governance. In one volume, this highly accessible text not only familiarizes water professionals, decision-makers and local stakeholders with groundwater governance, but also provides them with ideas and inspiration for improving groundwater governance in their own environment.

The Lake Governance book will focus on comparative analysis of governance structures by examining policy, legal and institutional structures of current transboundary commissions to develop a common framework for good governance of transboundary lakes. Cooperation among nations sharing natural resources is important for sustainable use of the shared resources. Lakes contribute a big part to GDP in most of the countries and in some cases are also responsible for providing fisheries (for food, source of protein and livelihood). Climate change and associated risks and uncertainties add more complexity to the problems. This book will explore current water governance challenges, knowledge gaps and recommend a framework for good lake governance.

Global Groundwater: Source, Scarcity, Sustainability, Security, and Solutions presents a compilation of compelling insights into groundwater scenarios within all groundwater-stressed regions across the world. Thematic sub-sections include groundwater studies on sources, scarcity, sustainability, security, and solutions. The chapters in these sub-sections provide unique knowledge on groundwater for scientists, planners, and policymakers, and are written by leading global experts and researchers. Global Groundwater: Source, Scarcity, Sustainability, Security, and Solutions provides a unique, unparalleled opportunity to integrate the knowledge on groundwater, ranging from availability to pollution, nation-level groundwater management to transboundary aquifer governance, and global-scale review to local-scale case-studies. - Provides interdisciplinary content that bridges the knowledge from groundwater sources to solutions and sustainability, from science to policy, from technology to clean water and food - Includes global and regional reviews and case studies, building a bridge between broad reviews of groundwater-related issues by domain experts as well as detailed case studies by researchers - Identifies pathways for transforming knowledge to policy and governance of groundwater security and sustainability

This publication was prepared as a background paper for the Land and Water Days event, held in Cairo, Egypt, from 31 March to 4 April 2019. In the framework of the event, the paper introduced the thematic area on "Land and Water Governance to achieve the SDGs in fragile systems", whose plenary session was held on Wednesday, 3 April 2019. Taking into consideration the fragility of the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region, the paper intends to demonstrate how land and water governance can help to reduce such condition, improve resilience and even assist in conflict resolution in the NENA region.

The objective of this book is to broadly illustrate the key aspects of water governance, mapping the spectrum of decision-making from techno-centric and eco-centric approaches, to hybrid concepts and people-centric approaches. Topics covered include the challenges for water-governance models, the polycentric model, the integration challenge, water in the decision-making hierarchy, and the rise of water-sensitive design, while also taking into account interdependencies between stakeholders, as well as the issue of scale. The book’s content is presented in an integrated and comprehensive format, building on detailed case studies from around the world and the authors’ working experiences in the water sector. Combining essential insights with accessible, non-technical language, it offers a valuable resource for academics, technicians and policy-makers alike.

This evaluation assessed the extent to which FAO’s work has been relevant and effective in supporting its Members to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6). Water resources management is central to any consideration of agricultural production, ecosystems sustainability, rural livelihoods and climate change adaptation and resilience, issues that lie at the heart of FAO’s mandate. The evaluation found that FAO has a comparative advantage in several key SDG 6 target areas and addressed needs and demands from Members in all SDG 6 target areas. Irrigated agriculture (target 6.4) represents an area of high demand from Members and a dominant theme in the reviewed case studies. Regional initiatives are effective in addressing specific needs and challenges of individual regions. FAO has performed well in its custodial role for SDG indicators 6.4.1 and 6.4.2. However, overall FAO’s strategic approach to water-related activities remains. The links between agriculture and water quality and pollution (target 6.3) were not adequately addressed. Despite limited evidence on full transformational changes, the evaluation highlights several activities and approaches that, if nurtured, could form the basis for transformational change.

This book examines the development of international law applicable to Transboundary Aquifers (TBAs) considering the Human Right to Water and Sanitation (HRWS). The purpose is to determine how International Water Law (IWL) and the HRWS can be harmonized in the context of TBAs. This is important given rules and instruments adopted to address this topic are relatively nascent, and the field itself is still in the process of developing regulatory frameworks. Taking the application of the HRWS to shared aquifers as a case study, the work discusses whether IWL and International Human Rights Law complement each other. The response to this question requires an analysis of the development of International Groundwater Law and its challenges, the evolution of the HRWS, the nature of transboundary groundwaters, and the interplay between these two fields. The author argues that IWL agreements should contain a provision related to the HRWS to ensure the protection of this right with a stipulation included in the nonbinding instrument that tackles shared groundwaters: the Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers adopted in 2008 through the United Nations General Assembly Resolution. The book will be of interest to international lawyers, water and human right experts, geologists, and anyone interested in water and human rights issues.

Attending water security is an important challenge and a major systemic risk humanity faces in the years to come. This is due to population increase, over-consumption of water, especially in agriculture, climate change and various forms of water pollution. The issue becomes more complicated in transboundary water catchments that cover almost half of the world’s land surface, with about 60% of global river flow and 40% of the world’s population. Also, in many parts of the planet, like Saharan Africa, population depends on groundwater resources located in transboundary aquifer systems. These facts illustrate the importance of the book's subject, which is the governance of transboundary waters, both surface and groundwater. The book is written by two distinguished scientists, who, having worked in various international institutions, like UNESCO, GEF, UNEP and at the European Commission, have both an extended expertise on how to bridge the gap between science and political decision-making, which is the main factor for an effective governance of water resources. What is new in the book is the integrated analysis of transboundary governance of both surface water and groundwater, as it occurs in reality. In current literature, groundwater is still often missing for the benefit of surface water or, on the contrary, it is treated separately from surface water. The most important feature of the book is to distinguish between the real and a "good" or an effective transboundary water governance and to provide practical tools, methodologies and examples for its implementation in the field. Published timely during 2018, the book will contribute to address successfully practical problems of governance of transboundary waters that represent a very important part of our precious fresh water resources.