Post-hoc assessment of activities implemented before and during the disaster, re-evaluation of disaster risk mitigation plans and drinking water risk management schemes and formulation of relevant proposals aimed at reducing risk of future disaster impacts are important water governance activities implemented within the rehabilitation phase. However, the physical rehabilitation of drinking water supplies, sanitary systems and drinking water distribution networks is of critical importance as well and is realised in two phases:
• short term actions implemented within days, already initiated within the relief phase and
• long term, and technically and financially demanding actions which depend on the type, extent and intensity of natural disasters and their impact on water supply and sanitation facilities.
Where groundwater drinking water supplies are polluted by chemicals, remediation usually requires weeks to months; even years.
194 ❙ G R O U N D W A T E R R E S O U R C E S F O R E M E R G E N C Y S I T U A T I O N S - A M e t h o d o l o g i c a l G u i d e
The following groundwater supply related rehabilitation activities are highlighted:
• reconstruction of damaged water supply and sanitary facilities, treatment plants, and water distribution pipelines; remediation of polluted groundwater,
• investigation and development of new emergency groundwater resources resistant to disaster impacts and their connection with existing drinking water distribution networks,
• updating of water governance and risk mitigation policy and drinking water risk management in emergency situations,
• re-evaluation of disaster mitigation plans and updating of inundation, risk and land use maps and groundwater vulnerability maps,
• re-evaluation of the activities of rescue and aid teams responsible for drinking water supply in emergency situations leading to relevant improvements in the composition of teams and in the scope and mode of implementation of their emergency activities,
• re-evaluation of the activities of local communities in emergency situations and proposed improvements considering their ethical, religious and cultural background and historical experience in management of local drinking water resources in regular and emergency situations,
• development of risk based groundwater indicators.
Comprehensive cooperation between water managers, water supply technical staff and rescue author -ities is needed in the rehabilitation of damaged water supply system and in designated municipal and rural areas with priority exigency on good quality water, e.g. drinking water supplies, hospitals and other medical facilities, basic food production facilities and areas with high population density.
Drinking and cooking water distribution by tankers must be also organised, taking account of limited tanker capacity for water distribution, and the turnaround time of a tanker that may run into hours.
This intervention plus the import of large quantities of bottled water can only be temporary. The efficient and rapid solution is intensive pumping of existing deep emergency wells tapping water from deep aquifers resistant to disaster impact or to rapidly drill wells in deeper aquifers of low vulner -ability in areas where their occurrence were already investigated and their productivity tested.
Efficient and equitable water governance policy in the disaster rehabilitation phase helps to reduce significantly water deprivation in the post-disaster period, secure resistant emergency drinking water resources and assess and mitigate risk of potential future disasters on population. Management of emergency groundwater resources and related rehabilitation works are described in detail in chapter 5.
Figure 7.1.2 presents a resuméof activities and measures to be implemented within different phases of a disaster sequence.
196 ❙ G R O U N D W A T E R R E S O U R C E S F O R E M E R G E N C Y S I T U A T I O N S - A M e t h o d o l o g i c a l G u i d e
vInventorise and evaluate historical and contemporaneous data records on climate, hydrology and disaster events
vIdentify existing and potential pollution sources
vEstablish and activate monitoring and early warning programmes vStandardise monitoring, sampling and laboratory procedures and data
assessment and management
vConceptualise possible scenarios of disaster impacts on the population and on drinking water supply and sanitation facilities
Warning phase
v Distribute drinking water from local emergency groundwater sources resistant to disasters, import of bottled water, transport of drinking water in tankers from surrounding unaffected regions, drilling of new water supply wells where aquifers resistant to disasters have already been investigated
v Effect emergency repairs of those compromised water supply and sanitary systems most readily rehabilitated
v Safeguard activities of rescue teams to mitigate impact of disasters on domestic water supply wells – dewatering, cleaning, desinfection v Immediate response of local communities
v Reconstruct damaged water supply and sanitary facilities, treatment plants and water distribution networks; remediate polluted groundwater
vInvestigate and develop new emergency groundwater resources resistant to disaster events
vUpdate water governance and risk mitigation policy and risk management of water resources in emergency situations
vRe-evaluate and update disaster risk mitigation plans and maps of groundwater vulnerability, risk and inundation maps
vPost-hoc evaluate emergency water supply related activities in all phases of a disaster sequence; re-assemble rescue teams, re-evaluate local community activities during emergency and propose improvements
vImprove land use planning with respect to the impact of disaster sequence on population and drinking water supply sources
vDevelop risk based groundwater indicators
Impact and relief phase
Rehabilitation phase Anticipatory phase
vAssess the risk of and population vulnerability to natural disasters vDevise integrated land use and water resources planning in disaster-prone
areas
vInvestigate and assess emergency groundwater resources; compile and / or update hydrogeological, vulnerability and disaster risk maps
vInventorise existing wells and water supply facilities and assess their vulnerability and / or resistance to disasters
vCalculate emergency drinking water requirements of those living in disaster-prone areas as well as high quality water requirements for hospitals and health and first aid centres
vDrill new emergency water supply wells resistant to disaster impacts vAvailability of qualified and trained professional human resources
vCommunity information on and participation indisater preparedness plans Figure 7.1.2. Overview of groundwater governance policy and risk management activities
in different phases of a disaster sequence. In blue: preventive phases, in red: impact, relief and rehabilitation phases
7.2 Institutional and technical capacity building for groundwater governance policy
in emergencies
Implementation of groundwater governance policy and risk management in emergency situations strongly depends on all the dimensions of a country’s institutional and technical capacity building, and whether such capacities are available and applied in a coherent manner.
Institutional capacity building
Institutional capacity building refers mainly to non-structural measures: governmental and water authorities, the legal and policy framework, emergency policy, the structure of rescue system and aid teams, the availability of professional human resources, information of and involvement by the public (Fig. 7.2.1). A governmental and legislative framework is the key in building water governance structures and capacities for disaster prevention and risk mitigation and in formulating efficient water resources risk management plans and policy in emergency situations.
Governmental water authorities must be able to coordinate emergency water policy, formulate and implement water disaster mitigation and risk management plans, support the operation of early warning monitoring systems as well as ensure information flow and communication between different sectors, organizations and groups of society. Many countries have established multi-sectoral disaster risk mitigation mechanisms and special rescue teams with representatives of governmental authorities, local communities, the army and civil protection forces and NGOs. These enhance governance for disaster risk preparedness and mitigation and effective management of post disaster rescue activities including the distribution of drinking water. Planning and financing these protective measures and
INVENTORY AND EVALUATION OF HISTORICAL DATA ON CLIMATE, HYDROLOGY AND DISASTERS.
IDENTIFICATION OF POLLUTION SOURCES
Figure 7.2.1. Framework for institutional and technical capacities for water governance policy in emergencies
investments in investigation and development of groundwater resources resistant to disasters are concrete outcomes of effective emergency water policy. However, in many countries risk management plans for drinking water resources in emergency situations and functioning water governance emergency policy are not yet developed and their formulation should be urgently addressed.
The establishment of a legal framework and regulatory statusis essential for the implementation of effective water governance policy in emergency situations. In many countries the catchment based management and protection of water resources, including the delegation of responsibilities to secure drinking water services in emergency situations are applied in water law and in specific emergency rules. According to the WWDR II (2006) the establishment of well-defined and coherent water rights are reflected in various economic, social and health benefits for all water stakeholders and in the formulation of responsibilities for protection and sustainable exploitation of water resources. In many countries preventive protection measures of water resources are incorporated in the legal framework.
Examples of these are: water supply protection zones, protection of recharge areas, operation of an early warning monitoring system as well as the right of the population to information related to disasters. Access to justice in environmental matters was discussed at the Fourth Ministerial Conference
‘Environment in Europe’ in Aarhus, Denmark in 1998. The so called Aarhus Convention focused on public participation in decision making, endorsed ‘the right of the public to participate in integrating land use planning and environmental decision-making processes and to be informed and to have access to all information which could enable the public to take measures to prevent or mitigate harm arising from the threat caused by human activities or due to natural causes’(Aarhus Convention, Article 5, §1).
Risk reduction and rescue mechanisms focused on emergency water resourcesdeal mainly with the protection of water resources against natural disasters, but also with human vulnerability to such disasters. Risk mitigation of natural disasters requires among others the maintenance of stream networks, river regulation works, planning and control of land use in recharge, inundation and other risk areas and delineation of water supply protection zones in areas prone to flooding, tsunami and other disasters. It requires also the identification, evaluation and protection of groundwater resources used or considered to be used as an emergency source of drinking water. As with man induced impacts on water resources, evidence of potential and existing pollution sources and relevant protective measures based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle and ‘prevent pollution at source’ approaches have to be implemented. Rescue and aid teams composed of professionals and volunteers are an integral part of water governance disaster risk reduction policy.
Human resources,properly qualified, experienced, trained and motivated, are a crucial non-structural component of water governance policy in all phases of coping with the impact of disasters on water resources. In the anticipatory and warning phase scientific and engineering services prevail e.g.
hydrologists, hydrogeologists, water quality specialists as well as water managers, land use and water planners, legal experts and policy and decision makers. During the impact and relief phase the main role is played by special aid teams, civil protection forces and disaster experts, physicians and other medical personnel, psychologists, water quality advisers and NGO volunteers. In the rehabilitation phase building and structural technicians, land use planners, water managers, hydro(geo)logists,water engineers, economists, legal experts and policy makers are the key specialists in the restoration of damaged drinking water supplies, piped water and sanitary networks and in the remediation of polluted water and soil. Many less developed countries face the lack of skilled personnel to implement prevention and reconstruction programmes, and to secure measures that will reduce the impact of disastrous events on drinking water sources and the population. As proposed in the Hyogo Declaration, a very urgent task in the building the resilience to disasters of developing countries is to establish training and learning programmes in disaster risk reduction targeted on specific professions and organizations such as planners, water managers, community representatives and civil society organizations. Availability of professional human capacities for water resources (specifically drinking water), risk assessment and management in emergency situations, partnership and technical capacity building and knowledge transfer at national and local scale are particularly emphasised.
198 ❙ G R O U N D W A T E R R E S O U R C E S F O R E M E R G E N C Y S I T U A T I O N S - A M e t h o d o l o g i c a l G u i d e
Active public information and involvement in the prevention and mitigation of natural and man induced impacts on water resources are further important non-structural measures in water governance policy. It is critical to decentralise decision-making and to raise awareness and empower local communities to play an active role in actions and plans for disaster preparedness measures and in rapid and effective disaster responses based on historical experience and knowledge. Democratic countries place public participation in environmental impact assessment procedures, disaster mitigation policy and integrated land use planning, on a legal basis. However, in several countries a communication gap persists between policy makers and the general public. Developing countries may face low literacy levels and have to introduce specific measures to inform, educate and involve the local population in all aspects of mitigation of disaster risk and impact on drinking water sources.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) disaster related fundamental information to the local community should include: knowledge of risk (information on the causes and dynamics of disasters), forecast and warning information, disaster mitigation (information on preparedness measures e.g.
protection of drinking water supplies), disaster impact (safety instructions to alleviate injuries and lives) and post-disaster instructions. Several UNESCO publications produced within the Inter national Hydrological Programme are focused on the role of the public in disaster mitigation and water resources governance policy (Dooge, 2004, Plate, 2003, Affeltranger, 2001, Young at al. (1994), Blaikie at al., 1994, WWDR I, 2003, WWDR II, 2006, WWDR III, 2009, Vrba and Verhagen, 2006, and others).