1st Edition

Groundwater and the Environment Applications for the Global Community

By Igor S. Zektser, Lorne G. Everett Copyright 2000
    192 Pages
    by CRC Press

    Historically, water has been treated as an inexhaustible resource. However, with the growth of population and development of industry and agriculture, freshwater demand has increased drastically, and its shortage felt in roughly 60% of the Earth. As early as 1931, renowned Russian scholar A.P. Karpansky wrote: "Water is not only a mineral resource, not only a means for developing agriculture. Water is a real culture bearer, it is a living blood, that creates life where there was none".

    Groundwater and the Environment: Remediation Applications and the Global Community covers one of the most important ecological problems - the impact on the environment of intensive groundwater pumping out. Drawing on more than a quarter century of study, Zektser analyses and makes conclusions about groundwater exploitation throughout the world. He focuses on the close connection of groundwater to the environment - its affect on surface water streams, reservoirs, seas, landscapes, and vegetation.

    The author demonstrates the importance of groundwater to the potable water supply, and its interaction with the environment. He stresses the significance of groundwater as a mineral resource. He provides techniques for assessing and mapping natural groundwater resources and develops these principles for studying water and hydrochemicals in coastal zones.

    In the last twenty years, the global awareness of groundwater as one of the most important natural resources has grown. Any changes in the groundwater causes changes in the environment. Groundwater and the Environment: Remediation Applications and the Global Community increases your ability to predict the possible changes to the environment and to follow the principle: "When using - protect, when protecting - use!"

    Fresh Water Problems
    Groundwater Function in Water Supply of Population, Industry, and Agriculture
    Main Notions
    Modern State and Main Principles of Rational Groundwater Use
    Groundwater Overexploitation
    Groundwater Resources and Their Uses in Russia
    Principles of Regional Assessment and Mapping Natural Groundwater Resources
    Groundwater Contribution to Water and Salt Balance of Rivers, Lakes, and Seas
    Environment and Groundwater Pollution
    Interconnection Between Groundwater Pollution and Environment
    Human Impact on the Groundwater
    Groundwater Pollution in Russia
    Groundwater Vulnerability
    Principles of Assessing and Mapping Groundwater Vulnerability
    Some Regional Investigations
    Ecological Consequences of Groundwater Pumping Out
    Influence of Groundwater Withdrawal on River Runoff
    Influence of Groundwater Withdrawal on Vegetation and Agriculture
    Influence of Groundwater Withdrawal on Land Surface Subsidence
    Influence on Groundwater Withdrawal on Sea Water Intrusion to the Coastal Zone
    Groundwater Use in Public Health
    Conclusion
    References

    Biography

    Igor S. Zektser