1. Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible
35th International Geological Congress
Cape Town – South Africa
August 2016
The importance of information management
systems (IMS) to good governance of
shared groundwater resources
Daniela Benedicto van Dalen,
Geert-Jan Nijsten and Nienke Ansems
2. Why is information important?
You can't manage
what you don't measure.
Information is key to sustainable
management of groundwater resources!
3. GEF Groundwater Governance Programme
www.groundwatergovernance.org
Groundwater governance
Groundwater governance – a definition
Groundwater governance comprises the
promotion of responsible collective action
to ensure control, protection and socially-
sustainable utilisation of groundwater
resources and aquifer systems for the
benefit of humankind and dependent
ecosystems. This action is facilitated by an
enabling framework and guiding principles.
4. Groundwater governance
Groundwater governance has four components
• An effective and articulate legal and regulatory framework
• accurate and widely-shared knowledge of the groundwater
systems concerned, together with awareness of the
sustainability challenges
• an institutional framework characterized by leadership,
sound organizations and sufficient capacity, permanent
stakeholder engagement, and working mechanisms to
coordinate between groundwater and other sectors
• policies, plans, finances and incentive structures aligned
with society’s goals
5. Information for good governance
Information of hydrogeological system
Monitoring of dynamic changes
Information knowledge
Share it with stakeholders
Data
acquisition
Data
analyses
Information
and
knowledge
sharing
Good aquifer management requires
good information!
6. Governance in transboundary setting
Borehole yield:
m3/h ? l/s
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
10
Log (Yield) m3
/h
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Probability%
Dolomite Kanye
Olifantshoek Botswana
Basalt SAB
(69)
(16)
(13)
Data & information sharing is prerequisite
7. Governance in transboundary setting
Data & information sharing is prerequisite
Trust and cooperation willingness are
necessary
8. Importance Information Management System
• Increases accessibility to data & information for a larger public
• Facilitates update of relevant information
• Empowers dissemination of assessment results
• Enables data compatibility with GIS
• Allows further analyses of the data (overlays, query)
• Improves understanding for non-technical stakeholders
• Enhance trust among aquifer states
• Enables policy development and integration
10. Global Groundwater Information System
Meta Information
Module
documents, people
and organizations
https://ggis.un-igrac.org
11. GGRETA project
• Recognition of the importance and the
vulnerability of the groundwater resources
• Establish transboundary dialogue and
cooperation
• Assessment of groundwater resources
• Capacity building
• Developments of the GGRETA-IMS
14. Groundwater resources in Africa
SADC hydrogeological maps
Lithology map
BGS Groundwater maps
Groundwater storage
15. Daniela Benedicto van Dalen
daniela.benedicto@un-igrac.org
www.un-igrac.org
Thank you for your attention!
World Meteorological
Organization
Government of
The Netherlands
16. Information exchange in the Law of TBAs
UN Draft articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers
Article 8 - Regular exchange of data and information
1. … aquifer States shall, on a regular basis, exchange readily
available data and information on the condition of their
transboundary aquifers…..
2. ….aquifer States concerned shall employ their best efforts to
collect and generate more complete data and information …..
They shall take such action individually or jointly and, where
appropriate, together with or through international organizations.
3. …
4. Aquifer States shall, where appropriate, employ their best efforts
to collect and process data and information in a manner that
facilitates their utilization by the other aquifer States to which
such data and information are communicated.
