NGWA Event and Education Recordings Archive

Research to Solutions: Contributions from UNESCO-IHP

Water security is synonymous with groundwater. Since its inception in the late 1970s, the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP), focusing on a variety of topics related to freshwater management and science, has attributed special consideration to hydrogeology and groundwater resources. Research, both into aquifers and the actions required to develop good groundwater governance, can provide solutions to combatting pressing challenges, such as population growth, climate change and hydro-hazards, amongst others. It is important that the international community increases its understanding of the interactions and interdependencies between groundwater management, energy and food production. Many key food production chains depend on the use of groundwater. However, the depletion of this resource, together with the resulting decline of aquifer levels, puts food production at risk, both locally and globally. Studies show that groundwater supplies are diminishing. UNESCO is currently supporting several long-term projects that monitor aquifer and groundwater resources. For many years, groundwater was considered as a purely local issue. However, these studies demonstrate the need to consider the situation on a more global scale, thus linking groundwater with the most pressing of human challenges. It was not until 2002, when UNESCO began conducting the first inventory of transboundary aquifers, that the extent to which the transboundary dimension of many aquifers further complicates matters was actually noted. The latest phase of the UNESCO-IHP programme (2014-2021) promotes advances in water science as well as solutions for achieving Water Security. Water security cannot be seen simply in terms of water sectoral policies or management systems. An adequate response to emerging challenges calls for new approaches in education and the development of curricula that capture the complexity and interconnectivity of possible global scenarios of the future.