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Regulating groundwater in the Eastern United States (U.S.), particularly transboundary aquifers between states, is a challenge given the patchwork quilt of common law, statutory frameworks, and agency rules. Such regulation is made more challenging by the need for better quantification of pumping and use. These dynamics are exemplified through several case studies, including the first ever U.S. Supreme Court case related to groundwater withdrawals (set in the Eastern U.S.). As dynamics such as expanded irrigation, population increases, and ecological considerations influence groundwater use across the Eastern U.S., water use will continue to be an important driver for economic activity and interaction within and between states. To effectively regulate transboundary aquifers, governance solutions must incorporate current science into decision making and be implemented at local, state, regional, and federal scales. Research Impact Statement: Advanced planning and incorporation of best science for adaptable policy frameworks are vital tools to ensure effective regulation of transboundary aquifers in the Eastern United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate variability and insufficient irrigation are primary constraints to stable and higher agricultural productivity and food security in Nepal. Agriculture is the largest global freshwater user, and integration of surface- and ground-water use is frequently presented as an strategy for increasing efficiency as well as climate change adaptation. However, conjunctive management (CM) planning often ignores demand-side requirements and a broader set of sustainable development considerations, including ecosystem health and economics of different development strategies. While there is generic understanding of conjunctive use, detailed technical knowhow to realize the CM is lacking in Nepal. This article presents a holistic framework through literature reviews, stakeholders consultations and expert interviews for assessing CM and implementation prospects from a systems-level perspective. We demonstrate the framework through a case study in Western Nepal, where climatic variability and a lack of irrigation are key impediments to increased agricultural productivity and sustainable development. Results show that knowledge of water resources availability is good and that of water demand low in the Western Terai. Additional and coordinated investments are required to improve knowledge gaps as well as access to irrigation. There is therefore a need to assess water resources availability, water access, use and productivity, to fill the knowledge gaps in order to pave pathways for CM. This paper also discusses some strategies to translate prospects of conjunctive management into implementation. • Customized framework development for assessing prospects for conjunctive management. • Conjunctive management status in western Nepal assessed by applying the framework. • Knowledge on water availability and demand are moderate and low, respectively. • Additional and coordinated investments required to improve access to irrigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines what is generally considered to be an unattainable goal in the western United States: integrated water resources management (IWRM). Specifically, we examine an organization that is quite unique in the West, Montana's Clark Fork River Basin Task Force (Task Force), and we analyze its activities since its formation in 2001 to answer the question: are the activities and contributions of the Task Force working to promote a more strongly integrated approach to water resources management in Montana? After reviewing the concepts underlying IWRM, some of the issues that have been identified for achieving IWRM in the West, and the Montana system of water right allocation and issues it faces, we adapt Mitchell's IWRM framework and apply it to the analysis of the Task Force's activities in the context of IWRM. In evaluating the physical, interaction, and protocol/planning/policy components of IWRM, we find that the Task Force has been contributing to the evolution of Montana's water resources management towards this framework, though several factors will likely continue to prevent its complete realization. The Task Force has been successful in this regard because of its unique nature and charge, and because of the authority and power given it by successive Montana legislatures. Also critical to the success of the organization is its ability to help translate into policy the outcomes of legal and quasi-judicial decisions that have impacted the state's water resources management agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]