World Water Development Report 2022: Unlocking potential of groundwater can provide water security, boost economy: UN

What is the News?

UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water has released the United Nations World Water Development Report 2022 titled “Groundwater: Making the invisible visible”

What are the key findings of the report?

Importance of Groundwater: Groundwater accounts for 99% of liquid freshwater on Earth and is the source of one-quarter of all the water used by humans.

Water Scarcity: An estimated four billion people live in areas that suffer from severe physical water scarcity for at least one month per year.

Largest Groundwater User: India is the largest groundwater user globally, followed by China and Pakistan.

Sector-wise Groundwater use: India uses 89% of the total groundwater abstracted per year for agriculture — also the highest in the world.

– Globally, 69% of the total volume is abstracted for use in the agricultural sector, 22% for domestic uses and 9% for industrial purposes.

Crops contributing to Groundwater Depletion: Wheat, maize, rice, sugarcane, cotton and fodder are the principal crops contributing to groundwater depletion. These crops are heavily traded, indicating highly unsustainable water footprints from intensive export. China, India, Iran, Pakistan and the US account for about 70% of the unsustainable water footprint.

What are the recommendations given by the report?

To unlock groundwater’s full potential, the report has given the following recommendations: 

– Collecting groundwater data as groundwater monitoring is often a ‘neglected area’.

– Strengthening environmental regulations for groundwater pollution.

– Reinforcing human, material and financial resources by way of increasing groundwater professionals among the staff of institutions as well as local and national governments.

– Financing and supporting groundwater departments/agencies.

Source: This post is based on the article “Unlocking potential of groundwater can provide water security, boost economy: UN” published in Down To Earth on 26th March 2022.