GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AND RELATED WATER RESOURCES ISSUES IN THE SOUTHEAST AND EAST ASIA REGION

Groundwater plays a significant role in the supply of water for urban development, especially where surface water supply is unstable. Several cities in Asia have utilized groundwater to meet the demands of increasing population and economic activities, especially during the early stages of urbanization in the 1950s. The rapid economic growth has been beneficial to these Asian cities, however, it has also brought environmental problems on the groundwater ecosystems, such as decreasing groundwater quantity, land subsidence and groundwater contamination, among others. This paper discusses the pressures created by population growth and industrialization and other economic activities in the cities, which resulted to changes in the quantity of groundwater resources in Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, Osaka, Taipei and Tokyo. Taking into account the differences in the extent of data availability among these cities, we tried to review the patterns of groundwater use and the problems brought by intensive groundwater abstraction during the last 50 years. The impacts of these problems have varied depending on the development levels of the cities. Moreover, we also tried to discuss the similarities and differences of government’s and society’s responses, depending on how the problems and impacts have been perceived and evaluated.