Groundwater and the environment

by I. S. Zekt︠s︡er

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 auth