Global focus on groundwater: Groundwater is increased visibility on the global water agenda and will be the focus of the 2022 UN-Water World Water Development Report [K1]

“Globally, invisible groundwater resources are under increasing pressure due to human activities and climate change. Our response to this pressure is often not adequate, also due to limited awareness of the importance of groundwater resources.” – UN-Water

Dr Neno Kukric, IGRAC (GroFutures) led the compilation of a UN-Water report on groundwater activities across UN-Water organisations.

This was followed by advocacy from Groundwater Solutions Initiative for Policy and Practice (GRIPP), founded by Dr Karen Villholth, IWMI (UPGro GroFutures) This led to groundwater being designated the theme of the 2022 World Water Day and World Water Development Report. 

The UPGro Knowledge Broker, with support from UPGro researchers have begun engaging with drafting process. The Knowledge Broker and UPGro researchers have been active contributing material and guidance to international groundwater briefing documents from GRIPP and the International Association of the Hydrogeologists (IAH).

• Global Groundwater Sustainability: A Call to Action
• GRIPP (2019) Groundwater: critical for sustainable development, IWMI
• UN-Water (2018) Groundwater Overview: Making the invisible visible, IGRAC
• IAH (2019) Climate Change and Groundwater, Strategic Overview Series IAH (2017) The UN-SDGs for 2030 Essential Indicators for Groundwater, Strategic Overview Series