The interdependence of groundwater and urbanisation in rapidly developing cities

Groundwater is of major importance in providing municipal water-supply and for private domestic and industrial use in many urban centres. The subsurface has also come to serve as the receptor for much urban and industrial wastewater and for solid waste disposal, especially in the developing world. In result, there are rather widespread indications of degradation of the groundwater resource-base caused by excessive exploitation and/or inadequate pollution control. This paper is based primarily on the detailed investigation of six cities in Latin America and Asia. Fuller details are to be found in a related World Bank publication entitled `Groundwater in Urban Development' (Foster, Lawrence, & Morris, 1998). The objective of the present paper is to raise awareness of the interdependence of groundwater and urbanisation among urban policy-makers and to provide a framework for systematic consideration of groundwater in urban management.