Global water resources and the role of groundwater in a resilient water future

Scanlon, Bridget R.; Fakhreddine, Sarah; Rateb, Ashraf; de Graaf, Inge; Famiglietti, Jay; Gleeson, Tom; Grafton, R. Quentin; Jobbagy, Esteban; Kebede, Seifu; Kolusu, Seshagiri Rao; Konikow, Leonard F.; Long, Di; Mekonnen, Mesfin; Schmied, Hannes Mueller; Mukherjee, Abhijit; MacDonald, Alan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6636-1499; Reedy, Robert C.; Shamsudduha, Mohammad; Simmons, Craig T.; Sun, Alex; Taylor, Richard G.; Villholth, Karen G.; Vörösmarty, Charles J.; Zheng, Chunmiao. 2023 Global water resources and the role of groundwater in a resilient water future. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 4. 87-101. 10.1038/s43017-022-00378-6

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00378-6

Abstract/Summary

Water is a critical resource, but ensuring its availability faces challenges from climate extremes and human intervention. In this Review, we evaluate the current and historical evolution of water resources, considering surface water and groundwater as a single, interconnected resource. Total water storage trends have varied across regions over the past century. Satellite data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) show declining, stable and rising trends in total water storage over the past two decades in various regions globally. Groundwater monitoring provides longer-term context over the past century, showing rising water storage in northwest India, central Pakistan and the northwest United States, and declining water storage in the US High Plains and Central Valley. Climate variability causes some changes in water storage, but human intervention, particularly irrigation, is a major driver. Water-resource resilience can be increased by diversifying management strategies. These approaches include green solutions, such as forest and wetland preservation, and grey solutions, such as increasing supplies (desalination, wastewater reuse), enhancing storage in surface reservoirs and depleted aquifers, and transporting water. A diverse portfolio of these solutions, in tandem with managing groundwater and surface water as a single resource, can address human and ecosystem needs while building a resilient water system.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1038/s43017-022-00378-6
ISSN:	2662-138X
Additional Keywords:	GroundwaterBGS, Groundwater, IGRD
Date made live:	02 Feb 2023 14:52 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/533957

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1038/s43017-022-00378-6

ISSN:

2662-138X

Additional Keywords:

GroundwaterBGS, Groundwater, IGRD

Date made live:

02 Feb 2023 14:52 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/533957