Spotlight on Threats to our Groundwater Resources

Many countries are facing historic levels of drought, leaving groundwater as the only source of freshwater, fundamentally exacerbating water scarcity and leaving humanity with a severe food crisis if left unchecked. Our unsustainable use of groundwater as a resource is creating a global crisis on par with climate change but the issues are largely invisible to most and need urgent global attention on an unprecedented scale.

The Groundwater Project (GW-Project) is a charitable organization dedicated to making the vulnerabilities of our groundwater resource visible and providing the educational tools to better manage this resource. Dr. John Cherry, leader of the GW-Project, has been inspiring hydrogeologists to take up this challenge throughout his career. He is the recipient of the Stockholm Water Prize (2020) and the Lee Kwan Yew Water Prize (2016).

At WSP Golder, one of the first consulting firms to help fund the GW-Project, we recognize and support the invaluable work of Dr. Cherry and the GW-Project. Dr. Cherry was generous with his time, answering numerous questions to support us all in being more Future Ready.

Why is groundwater important to humanity, and how does it connect to our current global challenges?

Groundwater makes up 99% of our planet’s freshwater. Half of humanity lives in areas that suffer from severe physical water scarcity, and yet, beyond the expert community, there’s little understanding of this precious resource.

Our continents are drying. Too much of the water we take from our aquifers (groundwater reservoirs) is not getting replaced but is instead being drained to the oceans due to urbanization of the land and deterioration of soils, transferred to a warming atmosphere that can hold more humidity, and shipped through the global food distribution system. Drought is global; therefore, a global food crisis is coming, primarily groundwater related.

The issues created by mismanagement of our aquifers are not limited only to access to drinking water. When water is removed from the ground and not replaced, the ground begins to irreversibly sink. With excessive pumping in coastal cities, such as Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, and New Orleans, this sinking is creating a greater potential for flooding than from the current rise in ocean levels due to climate change. Compounding the issue is that much of the water that is not replaced in the local aquifers ends up in the oceans, further rising their levels - this process is causing 15% to 25% of the rise in ocean levels today.

Ecological systems are also at increased risk from the effects of groundwater mismanagement and abuse. Groundwater seepage is what sustains flows in most streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands. When groundwater can no longer contribute to these surface water systems, we harm the ecological systems that support wildlife, birds, and insects.

The United Nations World Water Development Report of 2016 projects that the world could face a 40% global water deficit by 2030. What are clear demonstrations of that?

In 2015, the UN estimated that 2.1 billion people lacked access to safe drinking water. Even with a near-complete reliance on groundwater as our most reliable source of potable water in many regions, one-third of the world’s major aquifers are irreversibly depleted.

Food production is the leading cause. When food is shipped, the water it contains never replenishes the aquifer.

What government or industry initiatives encourage you? What further efforts are needed?

The UN recognized the importance of freshwater by designating March 22 of each year as World Water Day. In recognition of the key role of groundwater, the theme for 2022 is Groundwater, Making the Invisible Visible.This is a great beginning, but significant innovations are needed globally. To reverse the current trajectory, we need to look at:

• Producing foods using sustainable water. Both China and Spain encourage their populations to eat less meat to support this.
• Reducing the amount of rainfall and urban runoff that escapes to oceans.
• Promoting local agriculture with efficient and sustainable water use.
• Transferring government subsidies from food produced with unsustainable water to fund the transition to “sustainable food” based on water and ecological factors.
• Establishing modern groundwater monitoring networks that provide transparent records in real-time to all citizens. China is a leader in this area with over 20,000 wells in a national network.
• Ignorance is the enemy – groundwater education is vital for all ages.

How is the GW-Project’s work raising awareness of the importance of the hydrogeological component in today's global challenges?

Until the GW-Project, few resources presented the role of groundwater as a component of our toughest global challenges, e.g., how thoughtful management of groundwater resources reduces climate change impacts, and how evolving agricultural and industrial supply chains impact the vulnerability of potable water resources.

Our goal is to raise awareness of groundwater’s role in solving these challenges, both as part of the solution and its vulnerability as a resource.

What are you currently working on that would improve people’s understanding of the importance of groundwater as a factor in tackling our world’s major challenges?

Groundwater has an essential role in many industrial, agriculture, and mining activities crucial to the advancement of our modern economy. A side effect can be harm to groundwater.

The GW-Project includes books on related topics, such as hydraulic fracturing (fracking), subsurface waste disposal associated with nuclear energy, municipal and industrial waste disposal, and bottled water to give insights from top experts.

While the unsustainable use and misuse of groundwater as it relates to food production is troubling, it’s a problem mainly for the “privileged segment” of humanity with access to water. The poorest segment lives in water poverty with a much more immediate concern.

According to a 2019 WHO/UNICEF report, about one-third of the world population lacks access to safe drinking water. Millions of needed wells have not been drilled because of a lack of knowledge and availability of technology. The GW-Project provides the knowledge to overcome this problem.

Over your career, you have impacted many professionals. What would help students contemplating studies in hydrogeology address the market’s needs?

Groundwater education and research are underrepresented in universities, which is illogical and irresponsible when employment opportunities are considered. As a result, students are ill-equipped to understand groundwater with its geological, hydrodynamic, chemical, and microbiological components that make it a dynamic, complex system.

A great many young people are motivated to work toward a sustainable planet. Offering groundwater education in a multidisciplinary framework will not only appeal to students, it's the only way to address this subject rigorously and provide an opportunity for students to build an impactful career.

At WSP Golder, we look at our work with a Future Ready lens. How does the GW-Project do this?

I hope to make government and water management circles more aware of the implications of climate change, population, and industrialization expansion. I intend to find the best examples globally concerning groundwater monitoring, management, protection, and governance.

We are experiencing a global freshwater crisis, and a big part of the reason it doesn’t get global attention is that the signs of crisis are seen as isolated.

There are examples worth emulating in many countries; however, they’re buried in technical literature or bureaucracies. Examples of modern and responsible governance are crucial to understanding what needs to change and why criticism is warranted in some areas.

What other actions from governments and industries could help mitigate this trajectory?

Without significant changes occurring, humanity will soon have a severe food crisis due to insufficient freshwater. And this will trigger more migrations of destitute people to countries where they see hope. In addition, unsustainable pumping and mismanagement of groundwater as a resource will exacerbate the issues we’ll face from climate change and the globalization of our distribution systems. We need to cultivate awareness of the magnitude of this problem then change how we function on the planet. This includes:

• Increase groundwater education, greater awareness, and transparency in how it’s being managed as a global resource and its role in the challenges our planet faces.
• Establish international rules for globalized agriculture. Fixing agriculture is essential to fixing climate change and groundwater simultaneously.
• Reduce the loss of groundwater to the oceans and out of the freshwater cycle on the continents.
• Firm commitments to safe drinking water.

Conclusion

Groundwater problems are not yet hopeless. Many aquifers are not depleted, and most drinking water is safe, but the global trend is alarming.

As a society, we must focus on freshwater as a direct and urgent necessity to combat climate change. If we win on climate but lose on water, we’ll lose the war to secure a sustainable planet.

More attention on groundwater is needed. WSP Golder invites you to support and to participate in this purposeful organization.