Description
The year 2022 is all about the vital resource groundwater – youth around the world have started to rally behind the issue of groundwater and ‘making the invisible visible.’ The launch of the UNESCO Groundwater Youth Network in collaboration with WYPW and other youth organizations has provided a new platform for young people with an interest in solving the groundwater challenges of our time.
Groundwater also features prominently in the WYPW campaign on ‘Youth voices on the future of water research,’ highlighting the importance of advancing groundwater research. The working paper, which summarizes the first insights from the campaign and was first presented at the 9th World Water Forum, states on the topic:
“Groundwater is a crucial water source in many areas around the world, necessitating close monitoring of resource extraction and availability to ensure sustainable use.”
Youth from around the world identified three groundwater research priorities to ensure sustainable groundwater use, as presented by WYPW Research Group coordinator Juliane Schillinger at the ‘Groundwater, Key to the Sustainable Development Goals’ conference in Paris in May 2022.
First, enhanced groundwater modelling is needed to support sustainable management and efficient use of groundwater. This includes more accurate modelling of changes in groundwater storage and the dispersion of different pollutants in groundwater aquifers, and needs to account for the interactions of groundwater systems with soil, surface water and adjacent ecosystems.
Second, groundwater governance needs to be a core component of interdisciplinary research approaches that go beyond hydrogeology. Such approaches are required to support the management of transboundary groundwater aquifers and to provide data governance structures that allow for evidence-based groundwater management.
Third, groundwater systems need to play a more prominent role in the assessment of climate impacts on water resources. Groundwater plays a vital role for water access in many climate-vulnerable parts of the world, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas. The modelling and monitoring of climate stressors and impacts on the local groundwater availability are important to allow for timely adaptation measures.
These groundwater research priorities, identified by young water researchers around the world, were also one of the key discussion topics during the latest episode of WaterSpeaks, the Twitter podcast hosted by the International Water Resources Association’s Early Career and Young Professionals (ECYP) Task Force. Catch up with the ‘Groundwater Speaks’ episode (part 1, part 2) to learn more about different youth initiatives on groundwater and listen to Juliane reflect on the groundwater insights won from the ‘Youth voices on the future of water research’ campaign.
Cover photo by Jean-Yves Jamin, via Water Alternatives Photos.
