Groundwater Economics is the latest addition to a growing number of books on diversified topics on groundwater resources and their management (for example Griebler et al. Reference Griebler, Danielopol, Gibert, Nachtnebel and Notenboom2001; Quevauviller 2008). Charles A. Job's well researched and comprehensive book deals with different economic aspects of groundwater in detail that usually is not the common knowledge of the engineer, hydrologist, hydrogeologist, biologist, ecologist or the conservationist. Broad in scope, it is written for advanced undergraduates, graduate students and professional researchers. From the very beginning, it is assumed that economics through its skill to use a unique language of commensurability and calculation can be understood by readers varying from groundwater specialists to politicians. But economic arguments can also speed decisions in case of acceptance of vital projects dealing with groundwater systems under stress, with environmental management and/or environmental conservation themes.
The book is organized into five parts with 16 chapters, and part six includes several case studies to cover text topics. The book begins with a general overview of groundwater as both ecosystem and as a body of natural resource available for multiple usages. This sets the stage for the following chapters to introduce economic aspects with respect to resource consumption. The adoption of the idea that a groundwater body is an ecosystem networked to other terrestrial and aquatic systems, where humans are also members of those large ecological structures, interfering in many ways with the processes which act on the groundwater quality and/or quantity, is very attractive and increases the interest of the reader for the treatment of various topics in the next chapters.
The second part very effectively makes a case for understanding the importance of groundwater in the ecosystem as an essential commodity for much of the world's population. It provides a context for the necessary economic analysis. This part begins with a description of the hydrological cycle, followed by brief sections on groundwater in nature, availability, quality, flow, human activity and ecosystem vulnerability with emphasis on costs and benefits which are in turn closely connected with a number of constraints such as access to the resource, supply, demand and scarcity, water quality, waste disposal and legal considerations. Part three provides a short list of significant features from Part two and a summary of current data on indicators of competition for groundwater and subsurface environment. Part three describes the microeconomic and macroeconomic processes related to the use of groundwater and subsurface waste disposal while Part four focuses on groundwater policy development and its economic analysis using neoclassical economics and other economic instruments. Part five is focused on groundwater use and management in the future with reference to sustainable development, transboundary and climate change considerations. The ecological capacity of groundwater systems, and their occurrence and usage, are analysed through macroeconomic models when regional or continental aspects are dealt with and through microeconomics in case of specific local situations. This treatment approaches the question of political decision for groundwater affairs again at two different levels, those dealing with large ecological and societal systems and those of more reduced size of special interest to local communities. It is worth mentioning that the author stresses in this context the need for additional research dealing with applied groundwater topics. Unfortunately economic aspects related to the need for stronger investments in groundwater research and protection of groundwater ecosystems are not dealt with. Another slight weakness of the book is the lack of discussion about economic aspects related to public education in perceptions of groundwater systems and exploitation of groundwater resources. These omissions do not diminish the value of the book, which is remarkable, reflecting the unusual interdisciplinary approach the author chosen, deviating from traditional economic texts to present complex problems associated with groundwater development, management and its sustainable use, analysing them using economic fundamentals. The book will be invaluable to economic analysts, improving evaluation of the complex and/or subtle groundwater issues, and make non-economist engineers, hydrologists, hydrogeologists, environmental biologists and ecologists more familiar with economic fundamentals. Additionally to the book aids both planners and decision makers working on environmental conservation projects.
The book makes a valuable contribution to groundwater science and we are confident that it will be widely used.
