지하수의 ‘개발·이용’과 ‘관리·보호’ - 그 관계 정립에 관한 법적 고찰

Groundwater is reported to be the largest amount of freshwater available on the planet, and it is traditionally used as a major water resource for supplying water for daily use, industrial and agricultural use. Recently, due to various types of unpredictable natural disasters caused by rapid climate change, it has difficulty in utilizing surface water, and the use of groundwater as a resource that is relatively less affected by the climate crisis than surface water has attracted attention. Along with the active development and use of groundwater, the management and protection of groundwater should be considered. Various technical attempts are being made to manage and protect groundwater, but in order to achieve great effectiveness, discussions on the management and protection of groundwater must also be supported at the normative and policy level, and at the beginning of these discussions are the Groundwater Act and related laws. Based on various groundwater-related laws, including the Groundwater Act, the government is pursuing the ‘utilization and use’ and ‘management and protection’ of groundwater at the policy level as well. This study starts from legal interest in two themes, ‘development and use’ and ‘management and protection’ of groundwater, which may at first glance be in conflict. Both the ‘use’ and ‘management’ aspects of groundwater are important themes, and it is necessary to consider how to build their relationship. To this end, the discussion in the European Union, which has established various legal discipline systems for the use, management, and protection of groundwater, is dealt with from a comparative legal point of view. At the center of the discussion on the management and protection of groundwater in Europe is the (former) European Community Water framework directive established in 2000. The guidelines present various standards and legal norms related to the management and protection of groundwater. In particular, the management goals of groundwater are established by dividing them into chemical and quantitative states, and measures to achieve them are suggested. The establishment of various standards and measures based on them has significant implications.