Innovations in groundwater management and aquifer depletion: analyzing legislative support at the federal level

Abstract

Groundwater management and aquifer depletion had for a long time been issues reserved to state governments. However, with these issues becoming more globalized, and security of natural resource availability becoming a problem, the federal government has found itself involved in the issue as well. This particular research looks at how the voting records of the United States Congress as a whole support or ignore the innovations in groundwater management and aquifer depletion as identified by Emel and Roberts. Emel and Roberts' research is an essential point on which to base such research, as both scholars have published numerous articles on the subject of aquifer depletion and are considered experts on the issue. A database is constructed using the Library of Congress Website and a strict set of search parameters. The Library of Congress website, also known as Thomas LOC, is the most comprehensive and accurate archive of legislative history currently available. Support for innovations in groundwater management is scored and analyzed according to relevance within the United States Congress. The findings of this research suggest that there is significant support for groundwater management innovations in offsetting aquifer depletion, though support varies based on the groundwater innovation in question. A significant implication of this study is that as the issue of aquifer depletion continues to become more globalized, the federal government will find itself working on a multilateral basis with other nations to curtail the problem using groundwater management measures, so it is important that we know and understand how the federal government supports these innovations.