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Thailand completed its Eighth National Economic and Social Development Plan at the end of 2001. Important changes in natural resource management and environmental protection were made during the five-years of this National Plan. The Ninth National Economic and Social Development Plan carries forward many of these crucial efforts regarding natural...

Most parts of the world are facing escalating difficulties in meeting the growing demand for freshwater, while at the same time they are confronted by a deteriorating supply of this precious resource. Decisions and attitudes concerning human development, institutional frameworks, water and wastewater infrastructure, and other technological issues...

Wastewater is an important source of water and nutrients for irrigation in developing countries, particularly but not restricted to those located in arid and semi-arid areas. The use of wastewater is widespread and represents around 10 percent of the total irrigated surface worldwide, although varying widely at local levels. While the use of...

In the last two decades, Europe has been increasingly confronted with growing water stress, both in terms of water scarcity and deterioration of quality. Growing water demand, supply costs, and competition for good-quality freshwater reserves prompted a call for more efficient use of water resources, including a more widespread acceptance of...

Groundwater is at risk in many cities in Asia as a result of excessive abstraction. Without proper groundwater management, the precious resource will deteriorate further. In cities such as Bangkok (Thailand), Tianjin (China), and Bandung (Indonesia) groundwater problems such as dropping water tables and land subsidence have been observed, and...

This paper provides an overview of the common types of groundwater contamination observed in Asia, along with a discussion of the policy aspects of groundwater management. Groundwater is an essential part of the water cycle and plays an important role in domestic water supplies and economic activities. However, groundwater contamination, both...

The various negative impacts on the environment and society caused by land subsidence have been a problem in Bangkok, Thailand, since the 1970s. Intensive groundwater extraction for industrial and domestic purposes since the 1950s, which led to a decline of groundwater levels, has been identified by various studies as the primary cause of the...

High arsenic concentrations in groundwater were first detected in western Bangladesh in the early 1990s. The arsenic is of natural origin and is believed to be mobilized in the subsurface by a number of mechanisms that are not yet clearly understood. Estimates of the population in Bangladesh now exposed to concentrations over the national drinking...

This paper focuses on issues of typical groundwater pollution caused by inadequate wastewater control systems in Vietnam, a common problem in many developing countries around the world. Two case studies are presented, one of industrial wastewater problems in the province of Tay Ninh, and the other of groundwater contamination by an unsanitary...

The demand for groundwater in Sri Lanka has grown rapidly over the past few decades, mainly as a result of population growth, economic development, and shortages in rainfall. Recent estimates show that over 55 percent of the population now relies on it for their daily needs. As a free, easily tapped commodity groundwater is used in a wide variety...