1. Submission of literature review, case studies and outline of draft guidelines and assessment tool criteria for review and comment by ESCWA
2. Submission of a draft set of guidelines and assessment tool (40-50 pages) on the management of groundwater abstraction covering all stages of groundwater management from licensing to drilling and monitoring including literature review and analysis of formal and informal groundwater abstraction frameworks adopted in Arab States and the associated institutional and enforcement arrangements.
3. Participate in regional consultations organized by ESCWA in Beirut or remotely and present findings taking into account ESCWA comments on draft guidelines.
4. Final set of guidelines and assessment tool report (40-50 pages) on the management of groundwater abstraction impacts taking into account ESCWA comments and discussions during regional consultations, along with annexes that include literature review.
The report should be prepared in the English language. The final report should be submitted in MS Word (Times Roman, 11-point font, single spaced, A4 sized paper). Original diagrams, tables, figures and illustrations generated for the purpose of this report should be submitted as high resolution images in the report or as separate files in their original format.
Reference materials should be duly cited in footnotes and in a bibliography at the end of the document (including webpage addresses and date of download, as appropriate). The submission of an e-copy of the cover pages of all material listed in the bibliography is required with submission of the final report. Hyperlinks should include the date the document or dataset was downloaded from the website. Should any copyrighted material be included in the report, including figures, tables or illustrations, the consultant is responsible for ensuring that the owner of the materials under copyright provides permission to ESCWA for reproduction of those materials.
Not on premises
5 Months, starting 01 August 2020 and ending 31 December 2020
I. BACKGROUND
Groundwater resources are a significant source of freshwater in the Arab region. Countries are increasingly drawing upon these resources for domestic, agricultural and industrial use as surface waters become more scarce, polluted or costly to capture. It estimated that most countries in the region rely on groundwater for about 50 per cent of their water supply, with this estimate increasing to as high as 84 per cent for the countries of the Arabian Peninsula.
Groundwater includes both renewable and non-renewable resources that are found near the surface and deep underground. The ability to access groundwater resources has increased due to improved technologies and lower operation costs largely associated with drilling and pumping, including the use of renewable energy technologies. As a result, groundwater is being depleted and groundwater levels are dropping beyond sustainable limits, particularly in non-renewable fossil aquifers. A clear example of this is in the Saq-Ram Aquifer System in the Tabuk area in Saudi Arabia where total water level dropped between 100 m and 160 m from 1983 to 1988 due to overexploitation of the aquifer associated with expansion of cropped areas and fixed wheat commodity prices.
Climate change is also directly and indirectly affecting the ways that groundwater can be sustainably managed. It is projected that climate change will affect natural recharge rates due to reduced precipitation in large parts of the region. More intensive rainfall events and flash floods may also reduce recharge in the absence of appropriate management. In tandem, dependency on groundwater resources will increase as climate change affects surface water availability since higher temperatures and evapotranspiration rates would increase water use in the agricultural sector.
Arab States are also heavily reliant on shared aquifers, such as the Basalt aquifer between Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic, the Palaeogene aquifer shared by Oman and the United Arab Emirates, the Disi sandstone aquifer shared by Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System shared by Chad, Egypt, Libya, and The Sudan. Most states in the Arab Region share both renewable and non-renewable aquifers. The geographic extent of the shared groundwater aquifers and the advancement of pumping technology have prompted increased reliance on these resources by the agriculture sector and governments in their pursuit of food self-sufficiency.
In the Arab region, water users often benefit from unrestricted access to groundwater resources due to weak regulatory and enforcement regimes. Ownership of groundwater resources located beneath privately held land is also a commonly perceived notion. This results in a “tragedy of the commons” as groundwater users have little or no incentives to conserve groundwater at the community level or for future generations. This becomes even more complicated in transboundary settings with slow-flowing groundwater as each pumping well individually does not seem to affect groundwater levels while as a whole it has a very nefarious effect. Falling groundwater levels are also difficult to observe before it is too late, leaving groundwater to become depleted, saline or too concentrated with pollutants for use. New legal, regulatory, enforcement and technological instruments are thus needed to improve groundwater governance and the sustainable management of these essential resources in the water-scarce region.
II. GENERAL OBJECTIVE
The objective of this consultancy is to prepare a guideline on governance of groundwater abstraction to inform decision makers and groundwater resources managers in the region on guiding principles and innovative approaches that can assist in the development, implementation and enforcement of groundwater abstraction management regimes for improved management of groundwater resources.
Background and methodology
In response to the heavy reliance on groundwater and declining groundwater resources, most countries in the region have adopted standard but sometimes fragmented groundwater regulations. Emphasis has been on licensing of groundwater wells, metering and sometimes pricing, but enforcement has been mostly weak with limited success. However, problems exist at several levels from illegal wells lacking abstraction limits to non-conformity to abstraction limits in licensed wells. This is leading to continued depletion of many aquifers in the region and seawater intrusion in coastal areas. Not to mention the increasing cost of abstraction due to deeper water levels, leading to pricing out of small farmers who can’t handle the increased economic cost of pumping. Although the agriculture sector is the major user of groundwater in the region, the domestic and industrial sectors also consume groundwater and should be incorporated in guidance for improved groundwater management as well.
The objective of this consultancy is to prepare a guideline on governance of groundwater abstraction to provide decision makers and groundwater resources managers in the region with guiding principles and innovative approaches that can assist in improving groundwater abstraction management. The guideline would include an assessment tool to assist countries to review their current national legal, institutional, and enforcement frameworks relative to established best practices.
The first part of the assignment would survey existing national legislation, policies, tools – both formal and informal – legal and institutional settings and enforcement capacities in the Arab region. The survey would build upon the existing knowledge base available at ESCWA with the aim of identifying case studies that can identify and showcase best practices.
Ensuring an enabling environment for sustainable groundwater abstraction requires strong political backing as well as clear and effective participatory mechanisms not only during the development of the groundwater abstraction management framework but also in its implementation and enforcement. The consultant will examine successful communal or participatory systems that are applicable to the specificities of the region to extract lessons learned and best practices on local level engagement to also incorporate into the guidelines.
The second part of the assignment would then draw upon the set of case studies collected to identify evidence-based best practices of successful tools to manage groundwater. The case studies elaborated would showcase measures appropriate for use and transfer in the region and would be based on a preliminary set of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of those measures, which would be agreed to with ESCWA. The selection of best practices would be performed with a view to informing Arab States on the effectiveness of a measure and its suitability for transfer and application in other parts of the region. Effectiveness must cover all stages of groundwater abstraction from the licensing stage to well drilling and testing to monitoring and reporting on groundwater abstraction accounting for a data feedback loop, which is cardinal to regional groundwater remedial management.
These best practices drawn from the analysis of the case studies will then inform the preparation of a set of groundwater governance guidelines to assist governments improve the management of their groundwater resources.
III. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Under the overall supervision of the Climate Change and Natural Resources Sustainability Cluster Leader, the consultant would report directly to the Integrated Water Resources Management for Improved Water Security Project Coordinator and would be responsible for the following:
1. Collection and analysis of policies, legislations and tools both formal and informal from the region on management of groundwater abstraction from all stages including wells licensing to drilling to final stage of abstraction for both licensed and unlicensed wells and enforcement and associated institutional settings. This should include both formal and informal communal practices from the region. The review should provide a knowledge reference base of legislations on groundwater abstraction in the region and of informal communal practices from national sources that may only be available in the Arabic language. These should be visually mapped and cover all stages of groundwater abstraction management from the licensing stage to well drilling and testing to monitoring and reporting on groundwater abstraction accounting for a data feedback loop.
2. Evaluate the effectiveness of the above collected legislations highlighting weaknesses and strengths that could be beneficial for countries in the region. This evaluation should cover all stages of groundwater abstraction management and both legal and illegal wells. Effectiveness criteria are to be agreed upon with ESCWA and based on ability to control groundwater abstraction across various enabling environments.
3. Augment above evaluation with successful case studies for management of groundwater abstraction including communal practices, participatory approaches and use of technologies among others.
4. Based on the above review and analysis, draft a clear set of policy guidelines that assist States in the region move towards better management of groundwater abstraction. The guidelines should address both legal and illegal wells and the following issues among others:
a. Institutional and administrative considerations (coherence and integrated management and enforcement within and across institutions and sectors)
b. Controlling the number of new and existing wells both licensed and unlicensed
i. Zoning
ii. Licensing
iii. Registration
iv. Drilling and controlling drillers
v. Buying out
vi. Backfilling
vii. Use of technology
viii. Others
c. Controlling the amount of groundwater abstracted
i. Water use entitlements,
ii. Metering,
iii. Quotas,
iv. Pricing for various users and sectors,
v. Indirect incentives
vi. Use of technology
vii. Others
d. Allowance for participatory management of groundwater abstraction including community management and joined management
e. Monitoring and enforcement capacities within a participatory management approach and data feedback loop
f. Direct and indirect economic and financial incentive/disincentive systems (pricing, subsidies, taxes, compensation, etc.)
g. Access to and use of technologies
5. Develop an assessment tool, check list, to help government officials review the effectiveness of existing groundwater abstraction management regimes and their alignment with the proposed guidelines through all stages.
Academic Qualifications: Master’s degree in groundwater management or water governance is required.
Experience: A minimum of seven (7) years of experience working in the area of groundwater management, governance, or water law. Previous experience working in the area of groundwater governance in the Arab region is an advantage.
Language: Fluency in oral and written English and Arabic is required. Knowledge of French is an advantage.
THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.