On 7 and 8 December, experts will gather in Paris for the UN-Water Summit on Groundwater to discuss the challenges and opportunities involved in the sustainable use and protection of the vital natural resource.
The summit signals the culmination of the 2022 “Groundwater: making the invisible visible” campaign and is an important staging post on the road to the UN Water Conference in March 2023.
Globally, over 2.3 billion people face water stress, and by 2050, some 6 billion people will experience water scarcity due mainly to increasing demand from a growing global population. The Horn of Africa, for example, is reeling from the most severe drought in recent history, which has caused a large number of livestock and wildlife deaths and has left millions of people facing starvation. Household water insecurity in the Horn has increased by 88 per cent in the past five months, afflicting 10.5 million people, according to the UN Children’s Fund.
With droughts among the greatest threats to sustainable development, especially in developing countries, and the triple planetary crisis amplifying its effects, experts say groundwater can provide the solutions needed.
An undervalued resource
Groundwater accounts for around 99 per cent of all liquid freshwater on Earth, and it has tremendous potential to provide societies with water needed for social, economic and environmental benefits and opportunities. It provides half of all water withdrawn for domestic use and around 25 per cent of all water withdrawn for irrigation.
According to the UN World Water Development Report 2022, growing water demand from all sectors and increased variation in rainfall patterns will increase global reliance on groundwater.
However, groundwater is an “invisible” and poorly understood resource since it is hidden below the ground. Groundwater is consequently undervalued, mismanaged and even abused, experts say.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that 10 per cent of the global grain harvest is produced using groundwater, which is quickly depleting the resource. Research shows that up to 60 per cent of irrigation in regions of the western United States relies on groundwater, an overdependence that means 35 per cent of the southern High Plains will be unable to support irrigation within the next 30 years.
Threats to groundwater
Anthropogenic pollution is a major threat to groundwater. In South Africa, for example, run-off from small-scale farms, landfills, cemeteries, factories and informal settlements risk leaching into the Cape Flats aquifer, which lies under much of Cape Town, according to a recent study from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Experts say there are significant knowledge gaps pertaining to the extent and quality of groundwater and its surprising biodiversity. While groundwater often represents the largest share of freshwater in a country, not all groundwater is drinkable due to natural contaminants such as arsenic, as well as chemical or microbiological contaminants within aquifers.
Of the 89 countries with water quality data, only 52 have information about groundwater. To protect human and environmental health, experts say more finance is needed to build capacity and generate data on groundwater quality.
“We need to prioritize efforts to develop international monitoring programmes and standards to assess groundwater quality, fill knowledge gaps, and prepare an improved and fair basis for transboundary cooperation, data-sharing and joint capacity development programmes,” says Melchior Elsler, a UNEP groundwater expert. “For that, finance is vital.”
For further information, please contact Lis Mullin Bernhardt: lis.bernhardt@un.org or Melchior Elsler: melchior.elsler@un.org
UNEP’s Global Environment Monitoring Unit provides the Secretariat of the World Water Quality Alliance, set up in 2018 with the goal of supporting a global water quality assessment due in 2023. The Alliance aslo seeks to establish a multi-stakehlder community of practice – from UN Agencies to academia and the private sector – to bring together global expertise and knowledge on water quality, with a focus on thematic areas such as groundwater, ecosystem restoration, citizen science, community engagement through local water fora, and capacity development.
UNEP partner Friends of Groundwater seeks to improve the global knowledge base on groundwater quality through the development of a set of recommendations and guidelines to assist regional groundwater quality assessments.
