J.J. van Soest
INTRODUCTION
The following outlines the experience of the Netherlands, a country where there is no need to prove the value and importance of groundwater management and that interference with the natural state of groundwater can damage the environment and human interests.
Good regulations in the fields of physical planning, water resources management and environmental protection are vital for sound groundwater management. These objectives form the basis for the directive of the Council of the European Communities on groundwater protection against pollution caused by the discharge of certain dangerous substances (1979.
Dee 17 no. 80/68 EEC). It is the framework law to protect groundwater with which all European Community countries must comply.
In the Netherlands, as in many other countries, groundwater is a source of both domestic and industrial water supply. About 2/3rds of the water used is groundwater.
Moreover, groundwater influences vegetation in large areas of the country where it affects the moisture level of the upper soil layers. This is important for both agriculture and nature conservation.
In the Netherlands, the first moves to protect groundwater came from the public water supply authorities. As early as 1940, a government commission recommended general rules on groundwater abstraction and protection in a water supply act, of which a draft was prepared. World War II interrupted
further developments until the fifties.
The matter was then taken up under different headings. Protection of groundwater resources was made part of provincial physical plans, whereas rules on groundwater abstraction for public supply were enacted in 1354 by central government.
However, there were as yet many omissions that made these regulations far from satisfactory. These included the absence of general regulations on water management and environmental protection.
The 1954 Act on Groundwater Abstraction for Public Water Supply contained a
licensing system for these abstractions. It gave these licensed
abstractions a legal status (civil law actions were barred) but contained no rules on abstraction for other purposes (industry, agriculture) so that an equitable distribution of available groundwater resources could not be achieved. Most provinces made their own regulations on water abstraction for industrial purposes.
In the absence of adequate protection of wells for public use, some provinces made their own regulations, while in some cases the water supply companies owned the land adjoining the wells. However, the overall situation remained far from satisfactory due to differences in regulations and their application. In some cases, regulations which were not intended for the purpose had to be applied, e.g. the Nuisance Act or provincial rules on excavations.
THE PRESENT SITUATION
Since then, legislation has been completed in all these spheres in the Netherlands. The Physical Planning Act, in force since 1965, was changed in Parliament. It covers subjects which have a major impact on physical planning on a national scale, such as land, water and air traffic, electricity supply, and public water supply. These plans allow other
interests to make representations. The decisions are made very carefully after official consultations and public hearings. They have to be followed by provincial and local authorities when they make their own regional and local physical plans. In the Netherlands planning legislation began in 1901
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with local physical plans. Enactment of physical planning by central government only began in 1972, with a drinking water supply plan which followed 15 years of voluntary experiments.
This plan was revised in 1984 and is due to be amended for the third time in 1991. It places restrictions on ground and surface water abstractions, so as to provide for water supply needs up to the year 2010 (about 2600 million mj/year as a maximum for an estimated population of 16.4 million; in 1989 total consumption was about 1200 million m3 with a population of 14.8 million). Water management regulations underwent equally rapid development during the period 1970-1990. Starting with a surface waters sanitation act
in 1969 - which came into force in 1970 - rules on ground water abstraction were enacted in 1981 and have been in force since March 1984. In 1989 a water management act, covering all remaining gaps and improving the efficiency of water management planning, was accepted by Parliament.
However, the Dutch Groundwater Act is of most importance to groundwater managernent. It contains regulations on groundwater abstraction and on
artificial recharge in the fields of registration, planning and licensing.
This Act is executed by provincial governments under the supervision of
central government. Registration and licensing are obligatory for
abstractions above lOmj/h. The decisions of the provincial government can be appealed to the Crown's Council. Planning must examine and assess available groundwater resources, including their quality as well as future groundwater needs and priorities.
Central government can give directives to the provincial authorities on the contents of the plans, in the national interest.
Protection of groundwater against pollution now comes under the heading of environmental management. A land protection act came intb effect in 1986.
In the act, groundwater is included in the definition of land because groundwater protection is impossible without protecting what lies above it.
"Land" in this context includes all the layers and earth material from the surface of the ground to as far below it as human impact extends. The Act provides for national standards based on rules set by the central government.
These rules comprise a combination of effect-orientated measures (formulation of quality standards) and source oriented measures (combating pollution sources).
In addition to this general protection, specific protection must also be provided in certain areas e.g. around major groundwater supply sources, the so-called groundwater areas. The provincial authorities are obliged to draw up a groundwater protection plan and develop a set of regulations to achieve
this specific protection.
As regards land, Dutch environmental policy distinguishes between local (point) pollution sources (deep well disposal, waste disposal sites, underground storage tanks, pipelines etc.) and diffuse pollution sources ( use of manure, fertilizers, sewage sludge, pesticide application, acidification etc.).
Local pollution sources have to meet the so called ICM criteria i.e.
Isolate, Control, Monitor in order to prevent pollution.
For diffuse pollution sources, the policy aims at preventing the entry of dangerous substances into the environment and reducing the effects of acidification and fertilizing by introducing source - orientated measures.
In groundwater protection areas these measures will be more rigorous.
For example, certain pesticides which are mobile in soil, and could therefore be leached into the groundwater, may not be used on agricultural land in protection areas.
In the near future, the general use of persistent and mobile pesticides will be further restricted.
All this planning was incorporated into the 1989 National Environmental Policy Plan. This plan aims at stabilising the pollution situation by the year 2000. However, the effects of earlier pollution will continue for a
long time, due to the slow movement of groundwater.
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