essay on ground water making invisible visible

Groundwater: Making the invisible visible in 2022 and beyond

UNESCO, together with its centre, the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC), has led the World Water Day 2022 campaign on “Groundwater: Making the invisible visible” on behalf of UN-Water; the campaign will remain active throughout the year. UNESCO will coordinate the organization and will participate in a series of key events related to groundwater, aimed at conveying a message about the importance of these hidden resources to the UN 2023 Water Conference.

World Water Day

22 march 2022.

Since its inception in 1975, the UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) has provided a substantial contribution to the improved knowledge of groundwater and aquifers worldwide. UNESCO, together with its category 2 centre, IGRAC, has led the U N World Water Day 2022 campaign on “Groundwater: Making the invisible visible” on behalf of UN-Water. The UN World Water Development Report (WWDR) 2022 , prepared by the UNESCO's World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), and published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water and its partners, was this year devoted to the topic, providing the most up-to-date knowledge on groundwater.

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World Water Forum

21-26 march 2022, dakar, senegal.

The  World Water Forum  is the largest international event dedicated to water, bringing together NGOs, the private sector, governments and international organizations. It is organized by the Forum’s respective host country and the World Water Council, with IHP, the intergovernmental platform for water within the UN system, also taking an important role. The Forum aims to raise awareness among decision-makers and the public at large on water issues and to generate action, thus improving access to water supply and sanitation. It also reports on the progress taken towards meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Within the framework of the 9th World Water Forum, UNESCO and IGRAC took the lead in the celebration of the World Water Day (22 March 2022) on the theme, “Groundwater: Making the invisible visible”, and organized the following sessions:

• Check all the events UNESCO organized by or with participation of UNESCO during the 9th World Water Forum

Groundwater, Key for Sustainable Development Goals

18-20 may 2022.

The main objectives of the May 2022 International Conference “ Groundwater, key to the Sustainable Development Goals ” are to :

• Examine the overall relationships between water-related Sustainable Development Goals', their stakeholders and groundwater
• Share knowledge, experiences, findings and good practices on the groundwater resources in sustainable development issues
• Elaborate recommendations to ensure the best integration of groundwater resources into the SDGs

The conference is co-organized by the French Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (CFH-AIH), UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (UNESCO IHP), and the French Water Partnership (FWP), under the patronage of the French National Commission for UNESCO and with the support of the French Ministry of the Ecological Transition, the Seine-Normandy Water Agency, and Sorbonne University.

Dushanbe High-level Water Conference

6-9 june 2022.

The Second Dushanbe Water Action Decade Conference, organized by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan with the support of the United Nations and other partners, will focus on how governments, the United Nations and its entities, other international and regional organizations, international financial institutions, the private sector, civil society organizations, academia, communities, local governments and other stakeholders can catalyze water action and partnerships to contribute to the implementation of water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Climate Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development and the New Urban Agenda at all levels, while supporting the global response to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Conference will be held on 6-9 June 2022 at Kokhi Somon, Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan. The Conference program includes opening and closing ceremonies, a plenary session, several thematic and interactive panels, special forums for regional and major groups, as well as side events.

World Water Week

23 august-1 september 2022, on-line and stockholm, sweden.

World Water Week is the leading annual event on global water issues, organized by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) since 1991. Together with organizations from all sectors and all regions of the world, SIWI seeks solutions to the world’s greatest water-related challenges. In 2022, the UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP), as Key Collaborating Partner, will join efforts with the World Water Week 2022 to highlight the importance of groundwater resources for human and ecosystems and jointly contribute to improve knowledge and capacity to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation (SDG 6) for a water secure world.

UN-Water Summit on Groundwater

7-8 december 2022, unesco headquarters, paris, france.

The UN-Water Summit on Groundwater organized by UNESCO and its International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC) will take place in 7-8 December 2022 at UNESCO HQ, Paris, and is planned as a hybrid meeting with the most possible on-site presence. The 6 December will be a Pre-Summit day, devoted to side events only .

The Summit aims to make groundwater more visible in order to better manage and protect it. It will bring attention to groundwater at the highest international level and will use the World Water Development Report 2022 as a baseline and the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework as a guideline to define actions towards more responsible and sustainable use and protection of this vital natural resource.

The summit will unify the statements from all major groundwater-related events in 2022 in one comprehensive groundwater message for the UN Water Conference 2023.

Other events

• The 12th International Hydrogeological Conference: "Groundwater resources in an ever-changing environment" Nicosia, Cyprus, 20-22 March 2022
• Eurokarst 2022  Malaga, Spain, 22-24 June 2022
•  Side event of the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) : “Climate impacts from cryosphere to groundwater”  New York, July 2022
• XXII Brazilian Groundwater Congress "Groundwater: Invisible, Indivisible and Indispensable”  São Paulo, Brazil, 2-5 August 2022
• Presentation of the 2023 World Water Day and World Toilet Day World Water Week, Stockholm, 28 August
• 77th United Nations General Assembly: Debate of the Legal Committee on “The Law of Transboundary Aquifers”  19 October 2022
• 49th IAH Congress "Groundwater Sustainability and Poverty Reduction "   Wuhan, China, 18-23 September 2022
• UN Climate Change Conference 2022 (UNFCCC COP 27) 7-18 November 2022
• World Toilet Day 2022  19 November 2022

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Seeing the Invisible: A Strategic Report on Groundwater Quality

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Rivers, lakes, and wetlands cover the landscape of our blue planet, but over 97 percent of the world’s freshwater resources lie beneath the ground . In fact, scientists estimate that there is 100 times as much groundwater on Earth as there is freshwater on its surface.

Groundwater is vital to human welfare and development, and in many countries it is the principal source of water for drinking, irrigation and industry. As a core component of the hydrological cycle, groundwater is also critical to sustaining many aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. 

Globally, groundwater resources are under increasing pressure due to overexploitation, pollution and climate change. Our response to this pressure is often not adequate as we still lack sufficient knowledge about these invisible resources. Because of the prominent role groundwater plays in supporting climate change adaptation strategies, its depletion has drawn global attention in recent years.  A new publication, Seeing the Invisible: A Strategic Report on Groundwater Quality , argues that the quality of groundwater, deserves equal attention. 

Groundwater quality is important for many reasons, most notably because of the consequences of contaminated groundwater for human health, agriculture, and the economy - and the resulting restrictions that are then placed on the capacity of the resource to support climate change adaptation. The chemical and microbiological quality of groundwater is central to its utility, yet the resource remains vulnerable to contamination from both natural processes and human activities. Seeing the Invisible , and its companion, A Practical Manual on Groundwater Quality Monitoring , not only provide a detailed description of the types and nature of contaminants in groundwater, but also the tools and resources for their measurement and long-term monitoring, and techniques to protect the resource from being contaminated in the first place. 

Most groundwater is naturally of good quality, but contamination poses increasing threats in urban and rural areas worldwide. Natural contaminants range from relatively benign elements, such as iron, to life-threatening substances, such as arsenic and fluoride, which are more widespread than previously believed. Anthropogenic, or human-generated, contaminants are extremely diverse and can have mild to extreme effects on human health and the environment. Examples include fertilizers, pesticides, industrial and mining wastes, and petroleum.  During the twentieth century, the use of petroleum products has become so widespread that shallow groundwater in every populated region of the Earth should be considered at risk of pollution. 

Long-term sustainability will not be possible without groundwater planning and investments supported by strong institutions and an appropriate legislative framework. The Seeing the Invisible report outlines recommendations for characterizing and assessing the risk, for representative monitoring, and perhaps most importantly, for preventing contamination from happening in the first place. Given the technical complexity and the substantial time and cost required to clean up polluted groundwater, prevention is better than cure from the perspective of economic, environmental, and population health. To this end, the report also addresses the need for groundwater quality governance and institutional strengthening.  It will assist budget planners, project managers, and water resource managers to embed groundwater quality monitoring in government plans and project designs and to support on-the-ground implementation of its measurement.

Groundwater quality management is almost universally neglected until the human and economic costs become too obvious to ignore. This year, groundwater is finally in the spotlight as the theme of World Water Day 2022 .  “ Groundwater – Making the Invisible Visible ,” draws attention to the hidden water resource that has always been critically important, but not fully recognized in sustainable development policymaking. Our report contributes to this initiative by highlighting the importance of groundwater quality and its role in water resource management as we strive to achieve a water-secure world for all. 

• REPORT - Seeing the Invisible: A Strategic Report on Groundwater Quality
• BLOG: Dunning-Kruger, groundwater quality, and avoiding a collective moral failing
• INFOGRAPHIC - Vital but Invisible
• FEATURE STORY - Groundwater May Be Hidden, But the Secret to Its Sustainability Is Not
• Practical Manual on Groundwater Quality Monitoring
• POLICY BRIEF - Groundwater Quality : A Strategic Approach

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Informe mundial de las Naciones Unidas sobre el desarrollo de los recursos hídricos 2022

The United Nations World Water Development Report 2022: Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible

March 22, 2022.

The 2022 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (UN WWDR 2022) entitled ‘Groundwater: Making the invisible visible’ describes the challenges and opportunities associated with the development, management and governance of groundwater across the world.

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New report: Is the solution to water crises hiding right under our feet?

Groundwater accounts for 99% of all liquid freshwater on Earth. However, this natural resource is often poorly understood and consequently undervalued, mismanaged and even abused. According to the latest edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report published by UNESCO, the vast potential of groundwater, and the need to manage it sustainably, can no longer be overlooked.

March 21, 2022

Today, UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water is launching the latest edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report, titled “Groundwater: Making the invisible visible” at the opening ceremony of the 9th World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal. The authors call on States to commit themselves to developing adequate and effective groundwater management and governance policies in order to address current and future water crises throughout the globe. Groundwater presently provides half of the volume of water withdrawn for domestic use by the global population, including the drinking water for the vast majority of the rural population who do not get their water delivered to them via public or private supply systems, and around 25% of all water used for irrigation.

Globally, water use is projected to grow by roughly 1% per year over the next 30 years. Our overall dependence on groundwater is expected to rise as surface water availability becomes increasingly limited due to climate change.

Huge social, economic and environmental benefits and opportunities

The quality of groundwater is generally good, which means it can be used safely and affordably, without requiring advanced levels of treatment. Groundwater is often the most cost-effectiveway of providing a secure supply of water to rural villages.

Certain regions, such as Saharan Africa and the Middle East for example, hold substantial quantities of non-renewable groundwater supplies that can be extracted in order to maintain water security. However, consideration for future generations and for the economic, financial and environmental aspects of storage depletion should not be overlooked.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the opportunities offered by the vast aquifers remain largely underexploited. Only 3% of farmland is equipped for irrigation, and only 5% of that area uses groundwater, compared to 59% and 57% respectively in North America and South Asia.

As the report points out, this low use is not due to a lack of renewable groundwater (which is often abundant), but rather by a lack of investments in infrastructure, institutions, trained professionals and knowledge of the resource. The development of groundwater could act as a catalyst for economic growth by increasing the extent of irrigated areas and therefore improving agricultural yields and crop diversity.

In terms of climate change adaptation, the capacity of aquifer systems to store seasonal or episodic surface water surpluses can be exploited to improve year-round freshwater availability, as aquifers incur substantially lower evaporative losses than surface reservoirs. For example, including groundwater storage and abstraction as part of urban water supply planning would add security and flexibility in cases of seasonal variation.

Unlocking groundwater’s full potential – what needs to be done?

• Collect data

The report raises the issue of the lack of groundwater data and emphasizes that groundwater monitoring is often a ‘neglected area’. To improve this, the acquisition of data and information, which is usually under the responsibility of national (and local) groundwater agencies, could be complemented by the private sector. Particularly, the oil, gas and mining industries already possess a great deal of data, information and knowledge on the composition of the deeper domains underground, including aquifers. As a matter of corporate social responsibility, private companies are highly encouraged to share these data and information with public sector professionals.

• Strengthen environmental regulations

As groundwater pollution is practically irreversible, it must be avoided. Enforcement efforts and the prosecution of polluters, however, are often challenging due to groundwater’s invisible nature. Preventing groundwater contamination requires suitable land use and appropriate environmental regulations, especially across aquifer recharge areas. It is imperative that governments assume their role as resource custodians in view of the common-good aspects of groundwater to ensure that access to – and profit from – groundwater are distributed equitably and that the resource remains available for future generations.

• Reinforce human, material and financial resources

In many countries, the general lack of groundwater professionals among the staff of institutions and local and national government, as well as insufficient mandates, financing and support of groundwater departments or agencies, hamper effective groundwater management. The commitment of governments to build, support and maintain institutional capacity related to groundwater is crucial.

The United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR), UN-Water’s flagship publication on water and sanitation issues, focuses on a different theme every year. The report is published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water and its production is coordinated by the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme. The report gives insight into the main trends concerning the state, use and management of freshwater and sanitation, based on work by members and partners of UN-Water. Launched in conjunction with World Water Day, the report provides decision-makers with knowledge and tools to formulate and implement sustainable water policies. It also offers best practice examples and in-depth analyses to stimulate ideas and actions for better stewardship in the water sector and beyond.

Read the World Water Report

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“Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible” the theme of World Water Day 2022

Every year, the World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. The theme also sets the focus for the annual World Water Development Report. An annual theme is proposed by UN-Water Members and Partners two to three years in advance. At its meeting in Rome last week, UN-Water decided that “Groundwater: making the invisible visible” – proposed by IGRAC – will be the theme for the World Water Day 2022.

The 30th meeting of UN-Water was held at the headquarters of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome, Italy. Over 50 delegates of UN-Water Members and Partners and 23 observers from governments and other organisations attended this meeting. 

After a brainstorming session at the previous UN-Water meeting in Stockholm and an online poll among UN-Water organisations, the initial 15 proposed themes were ranked and “Valuing Water” and “Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible” received the most votes. During a discussion in Rome, several participants reiterated importance of these two topics. IGRAC Director Neno Kukuric expressed his satisfaction and drew attention to UN-Water Groundwater Overview presented last year at the World Water Forum, noting that some 45 UN-affiliated organizations are dealing with groundwater but could benefit much more from potential synergies and complementarities. After this discussion, participants decided that the “Valuing Water” will be the theme for the World Water Day (WWD) and the World Water Development Report (WWDR) 2021 and “ Groundwater: making the invisible visible ” for 2022. Below the summary of the IGRAC proposal and hence of the WWD and WWDR theme for 2022.

Groundwater: Making Invisible Visible 

Groundwater is a vital resource that provides almost half of all drinking water worldwide, about 40% of water for irrigated agriculture and about 1/3 of water required for industry. It sustains ecosystems, maintains the baseflow of rivers and prevents land subsidence and seawater intrusion. Groundwater is an important part of climate change adaptation process and is often a solution for people without access to safe water. Despite these impressive facts and figures, invisible groundwater is out of sight and out of mind for most people. Human activities (including population- and economic growth) and climate variability are rapidly increasing the pressure on groundwater resources: serious depletion and pollution problems are reported for many parts of the world. A World Water Day on groundwater would put a spotlight on this invisible resource, enhance knowledge exchange and collaboration and thereby increase the awareness of the importance of taking care of our groundwater.

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UN World Water Development Report 2022

Groundwater: Making the invisible visible

Accounting for approximately 99% of all liquid freshwater on Earth, groundwater has the potential to provide societies with tremendous social, economic and environmental benefits and opportunities. Groundwater already provides half of the volume of water withdrawn for domestic use by the global population, including the drinking water for the vast majority of the rural population who do not get their water delivered to them via public or private supply systems, and around 25% of all water withdrawn for irrigation. However, this natural resource is often poorly understood, and consequently undervalued, mismanaged and even abused.

Groundwater is central to the fight against poverty, to food and water security, to the creation of decent jobs, to socio-economic development, and to the resilience of societies and economies to climate change. Reliance on groundwater will only increase, mainly due to growing water demand by all sectors combined with increasing variation in rainfall patterns.

The report describes the challenges and opportunities associated with the development, management and governance of groundwater across the world. It aims to establish a clear understanding of the role that groundwater plays in daily life, of its interactions with people, and of the opportunities for optimizing its use in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of this largely available yet fragile resource.

Unlocking the full potential of groundwater will require strong and concerted efforts to manage and use it sustainably. And it all starts by making the invisible visible.

The  2022 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (UN WWDR 2022) entitled ‘Groundwater: Making the invisible visible’ describes the challenges and opportunities associated with the development, management and governance of groundwater across the world.

• UN World Water Development Report 2022: Groundwater: Making the invisible visible English |  Français
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• |  March 20, 2022
• By Staff Reporter
• -  March 20, 2022

“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water” – W.H Auden WATER is essential to life on Earth – clean and potable water is essential to health and productivity. Fortunately, Guyana is rich in water resources. Most of the population and economic base of the country are concentrated in the low-lying coastal plains, much of which is below sea level. This year as Water Day is celebrated on March 22, every year brining to our attention issues and solutions related to freshwater resources. GROUNDWATER- making the invisible visible was chosen as this year’s theme and raises awareness of the hidden water resource that has always been critically important, but not fully recognized in sustainable development policy-making.

In Guyana, groundwater from the coastal aquifer system provides about 90% of the domestic water for our country. As such, we can clearly see the importance of water, specifically groundwater, as a whole.

You can share your ideas and questions by sending letters to: “Our Earth, Our Environment”, C/O Communications, Environmental Protection Agency, Ganges Street, Sophia, GEORGETOWN, or email us at: [email protected]. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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• | 2024-05-25

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Groundwater governance: making the invisible visible.

UNU CRIS will participate in the @UN_Water Summit on Groundwater that aims to bring attention to the highest international level of groundwater, do share the concerns you feel about securing the invisible water systems.

Noting that in  January 2019, UN-Water set the theme of World Water Day 2022 as groundwater and in  March 2021, UN-Water endorsed the proposal to organize a Groundwater Summit in December 2022 at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, as a contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework.. The Summit will use the UN World Water Development Report 2022 as a baseline and the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework as a guideline to define actions toward more responsible and sustainable use and protection of this vital natural resource. The Summit will unify the statements from all significant water-related events in 2021-2022 into one comprehensive groundwater message for the UN 2023 Water Conference:  https://lnkd.in/ePhGvPz7

Watch for UNU CRIS at @GWSummit2022

Please check the session on Transboundary Aquifers; Learn more at : https://lnkd.in/ewS4VpQq

Nidhi Nagabhatla will present her intervention in this session entitled  The Conundrum of Subsurface Water Management - Spotlight on Cross-Border Regions.

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