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Pond management in rural Bangladesh: problems and possibilities in the context of the water supply crisis
Author(s) -
Kränzlin Irène
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
natural resources forum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.646
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1477-8947
pISSN - 0165-0203
DOI - 10.1111/j.1477-8947.2000.tb00945.x
Subject(s) - water supply , context (archaeology) , water table , environmental planning , groundwater , water resources , water resource management , business , scale (ratio) , natural resource economics , population , resource (disambiguation) , environmental science , environmental resource management , environmental engineering , geography , engineering , economics , computer science , ecology , computer network , sociology , biology , geotechnical engineering , cartography , archaeology , demography
Today, Bangladesh is confronted with an immense water supply crisis: the decline of surface water bodies as well as a fall in the water table, together with the multiple pollution of the water in general, has put pressure on a precious resource that needs to meet the demand of a growing population. However, the most serious problem became public just four years ago—the contamination of the groundwater with arsenic. Considering the extent of the water supply problem, solutions for the future provision of safe drinking water are urgently needed. This article argues that ponds, a traditional water source in Bangladesh, could contribute to a solution. However, it is essential to recognise the problems and advantages of ponds in order to make suggestions on how to integrate ponds into the national water policy. Therefore, this paper analyses pond management—the use, maintenance and control of ponds—and its change from the past to the present. A holistic, dynamic and actor‐oriented approach on a small scale was proved to be the appropriate instrument for this analysis.