Quo Vadis Aquifers

The IPCC recognised that there has been very little research on the potential effects of climate change on groundwater resources and that the panel could only present a series of hypotheses in its final 2001 Assessment (IPCC, 2001; p 199). Groundwater is a major source of freshwater for many people, but it is increasingly under threat from human activities. This compromises the sustainability of the resource and thus threatens human security. What is the vulnerability of communities who rely on groundwater for their every day lives in the short, medium and long terms? The answer to this difficult question will vary considerably from location to location as many parameters interact to generate vulnerability. This link between groundwater degradation and human security needs to be addressed in a comprehensive manner and it is for this reason that UNESCO-IHP and the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security have launched the Quo Vadis Aquifers project to tackle this issue from research, capacity development and networking perspectives.

Contact:
::  A. Aureli, Programme Specialist, SC/HYD