Groundwater is invisible, but its impact is visible everywhere. Almost all of the liquid freshwater in the world is groundwater. As climate change gets worse, groundwater will become more and more critical. That is why we need to work together to sustainably manage this precious resource, declares UN Water. Groundwater is the protagonist of World Water Day 2022.
Making the invisible visible is the slogan of the annual event that takes place the 22nd of March. World Water Day is organized every year on the 22th of March by UN Water. During this day globally many events are taking place to create awareness of the theme that is always related to water. Last year the theme was water2me about the personal meaning of water, followed this year by groundwater. ‘Groundwater may be out of sight, but it must not be out of mind’, states UN Water on their website.
Over-abstraction and pollution
According to the UN human activities are causing over-use and pollution. Groundwater is being over-used in many areas, where more water is abstracted from aquifers than is recharged by rain and snow. Continuous over-use leads eventually to depletion of the resource. Groundwater is also often polluted in many areas and remediation is often a long and difficult process. This increases the costs of processing groundwater, and sometimes it cannot be used due to the pollution. Also according to GeoEra innovative concepts in groundwater management is a growing need to manage the resource better.
Source: Waternews Europe, read more