The oil spill I mentioned earlier in Alberta is still on-going. I think we’re at about 3 months now estimates from a few days ago have the leak at about 1.2 million gallons. And counting.

The problems with this leak have a lot to do with the sort of mining technology being used and, clearly, some unpredictable factors nobody foresaw. But it also raises some concerns over groundwater law and policy that are finding traction elsewhere.

Here are a few of the things I’ve seen recently that caught my eye. The first is by Cynthia Barnett (who wrote Blue Revolution, which is a great book on water if you’ve not seen it) and can be read here. It covers a lot of ground – literally – and is a nicely written piece that considers ground water issues around the world.

Another is a recent blog post by Michael Campana at Oregon State University on groundwater monitoring in the U.S. He is the ‘aquadoc’ and has a number of good posts on groundwater, including reference to a forthcoming book on groundwater and conflict by his colleague Todd Jarvis.

Mike also linked to a 2013 report (PDF) on a framework for developing a monitoring system that might be of interest to some.