Journal of Science Policy & Governance
Volume 25, Issue 01 | October 28, 2024

Policy Memo: Recommendations for Better Collaborative Groundwater Monitoring for the US High Plains Aquifer

Teyah Nichole Payne
  • King’s College London, Department of Geography, London, England
​​
​Corresponding author:  [email protected]​​
Keywords: High Plains Aquifer; groundwater governance; groundwater monitoring; water allocation; transboundary water management; water justice
https://doi.org/10.38126/JSPG250113 ​

Executive Summary

Groundwater is a critical resource for the Great Plains region of the United States, providing drinking water for over 2 million people. However, the High Plains Aquifer (HPA) is under significant threat from over-extraction—defined as the excessive withdrawal of groundwater beyond its natural replenishment rate. This overuse jeopardizes not only water availability but also equitable access and allocation. Effective groundwater monitoring is essential to track trends in water availability, assess the impacts of extraction, and develop strategies to ensure long-term sustainability. Without comprehensive monitoring, it is difficult to address key issues like contamination, depletion, and groundwater quality degradation. While several state-level frameworks exist to enhance groundwater monitoring, they operate independently, leading to gaps in data sharing and collaboration, especially for a transboundary resource like the HPA. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are well-positioned to play a more central role in this process. The EPA, with its mandate to protect water quality, and the USGS, with its expertise in nationwide data collection, are critical to supporting a collaborative and comprehensive groundwater monitoring system. By facilitating the integration of state-level efforts, these federal agencies can help ensure that groundwater monitoring is both consistent and accurate, enabling effective decision-making at regional and national levels. This policy memo provides a detailed analysis of current state-level efforts, highlights the role of the EPA and USGS in addressing governance challenges, and proposes a transboundary governance mechanism to enhance collaborative groundwater monitoring. The intended audience includes policymakers at the EPA and USGS, as well as water resource managers who are key to implementing these changes.

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Background header image courtesy of earth.com
Teyah Nichole Payne is a Ph.D. candidate in Geography at King’s College London, working under Dr. Naho Mirumachi. Her research focuses on critical geographies of groundwater governance in the U.S. Great Plains, particularly Texas, using a feminist political ecology lens. Teyah’s work aims to understand citizen participation in groundwater decision-making and explore pathways for more democratized governance. She serves as a research assistant at the KCL Water Centre and is involved with Groundwater Relief and the International Association of Hydrogeologists, advocating for water security and environmental justice.

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