Publication: Groundwater for Emergency situations: A Methodological Guide

IHP-VII Series on Groundwater; 3 - Edited by Jaroslav Vrba and Balthazar Th. Verhagen

The precipitate growth of disasters that affect ever-increasing numbers of humanity in recent years and the inevitable attendant crisis in the emergency of supplying drinking water has prompted the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP) to undertake a project entitled 'Groundwater for Emergency Situations' (GWES).

The aim of the GWES project is to identify emergency groundwater resources bodies resistant to natural and man-made disasters that could replace damaged public and domestic drinking water supplies.

This Methodological Guide provides indications for the protection and management of aquifers to be used in emergency. It also outlines the governance policy framework in which groundwater as an emergency resource may be integrated into overall emergency management and service provision.