Urban Groundwater Protection and Management: Lessons from Developing Cities in Bangladesh and Kyrghyzstan

Abstract

The inexorable expansion of the world's urban population and the realisation that water resources are finite have forced many developing cities in emergent economics to consider how sustainability can be introduced into their plans for infrastructural improvement. Groundwater dependent cities feel this need most. However, the pace of urban aquifer management remains slow. Simple but context-sensitive aquifer protection policies would help plan for sustainable urban development, especially if stakeholder involvement increases the chances for the gap between policy enactment and enforcement/compliance to be closed. The experience of two such developing cities in Bangladesh and Kyrghyzstan that are attempting to develop their own groundwater protection plan along sound hydrogeological principles is discussed.