Groundwater, the water stored in the rocks and soils beneath the earth's surface, is a crucial resource for many people, particularly in rural areas where it is relied upon for drinking water, irrigation, and livelihoods. Despite its significance, groundwater is often poorly understood and managed, and faces various threats such as overexploitation, pollution, climate change, and land use change.
The report presents an overview of the current status and trends of groundwater worldwide, considering indicators such as availability, use, quality, recharge, and storage. Some key findings include the fact that groundwater accounts for approximately 99% of the earth's freshwater resources (excluding glaciers and ice caps), provides 50% of the global drinking water supply, 43% of the global irrigation water supply, and 15% of the global ecosystem water supply. It also reveals that groundwater use has increased by over 50% since 1960 due to population growth, economic development, and agricultural intensification. However, the quality of groundwater is deteriorating due to contamination from sources such as agriculture, industry, urban wastewater, mining activities, and saltwater intrusion. Additionally, groundwater recharge is influenced by climate variability, human interventions, and land use changes, while groundwater storage is declining in many regions due to overexploitation, leading to depletion, land subsidence, reduced baseflow to rivers and wetlands, and increased vulnerability to droughts.
The report highlights several challenges and opportunities for the development, management, and governance of groundwater. These include improving data collection, monitoring, assessment, and sharing to enhance knowledge and understanding of groundwater resources, as well as strengthening governance frameworks, institutions, policies, laws, regulations, and incentives to ensure equitable and sustainable allocation and use of groundwater. Integrated groundwater management approaches are also recommended, taking into account the linkages and trade-offs between groundwater and other water resources, sectors, users, and ecosystems. Moreover, the report suggests enhancing groundwater resilience and adaptation to climate change impacts through initiatives like water conservation, demand management, artificial recharge, conjunctive use, and managed aquifer recharge. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of leveraging groundwater's potential in achieving sustainable development goals related to human health, food security, energy production, poverty reduction, gender equality, and biodiversity conservation.
India is specifically highlighted in the report as a country facing a critical situation of groundwater depletion, which is predicted to occur by 2025. Some regions within the Indo-Gangetic basin have already surpassed sustainable groundwater use, resulting in negative impacts on the environment and human well-being. The report urges India to take urgent action to improve its groundwater governance and management, as well as invest in innovative solutions to enhance its groundwater potential. Specific recommendations for India include establishing a national groundwater authority or agency to coordinate and oversee groundwater management, implementing a national groundwater registration system to monitor and regulate abstraction and use, enforcing a national groundwater quality standard to prevent pollution and protect health and ecosystems, promoting community-based groundwater management approaches to empower local stakeholders, and supporting research and innovation on groundwater technologies for efficient exploration, extraction, treatment, reuse, and recharge.
In conclusion, groundwater is a vital resource that is often poorly understood and managed. The UN report "Groundwater: Making the invisible visible" aims to raise awareness of its importance and challenges, while providing guidance and recommendations for its sustainable development, management, and governance.
Sources:
1) The United Nations World Water Development Report 2022: Groundwater .... https://www.undp.org/publications/united-nations-world-water-development-report-2022-groundwater-making-invisible-visible.
(2) UN World Water Development Report 2022 | UN-Water. https://www.unwater.org/publications/un-world-water-development-report-2022.
(3) India to experience critically low groundwater availability by 2025: Report. https://www.newsheads.in/lifestyle/health/india-to-experience-critically-low-groundwater-availability-by-2025-report-article-71332.
(4) India Nearing Groundwater Depletion Point by 2025, Warns UN Report. https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/india-nearing-groundwater-depletion-point-by-2025-warns-un-report/ar-AA1iT7rm.
(5) UN Report Warns of Impending Groundwater Crisis in India by 2025. https://www.heraldgoa.in/News-Today/UN-Report-Warns-of-Impending-Groundwater-Crisis-in-India-by-2025/212713
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