Overview:
In 2022, the international World Water Day (WWD) will be dedicated to groundwater. As usual, the World Water Development Report (WWDR) for that year will be about the same topic: groundwater. Groundwater Summit is envisaged as a central celebration of the WWD, and the venue for launching the WWDR.
In 2022, the international World Water Day (WWD) will be dedicated to groundwater. As usual, the World Water Development Report (WWDR) for that year will be about the same topic: groundwater. Groundwater Summit will serve as the final event in this special year around of groundwater. During the Summit, a catalogue on groundwater management and governance will be introduced and made available online for worldwide use.
Groundwater is a major water-supply source, whilst also sustaining aquatic ecosystems and maintaining baseflow in rivers, and being a critical storage element for climate-change adaptation. Despite these impressive facts, groundwater (being invisible) is ‘out of mind’ for most people. At the same time, water scarcity is increasing, already affects about 2.7 billion people around the world for at least one month per year. As surface water availability decreases (due to human activities and climate change), reliance- and pressure on groundwater is growing. Yet we still do not know sufficient about the state of groundwater resources globally and we do not manage aquifers well enough.
Groundwater - Making the invisible visible
In order to increase awareness about groundwater, international water community decided to dedicate a World Water Day in 2022 to this precious resource. Groundwater will also be a topic of a World Water Development Report in the same year. The report will present the state and trends of groundwater resources in order to make their role more understandable and visible. The slogan of the WWD and the WWDR in this Year of Groundwater will be: Groundwater – Making invisible visible.
The Groundwater Summit (December 2022) is envisaged as a high level platform to bring together scientists, policy makers and practitioners and it will focus on improving a science-policy-practice interface.
Catalogue on groundwater management and governance tools, measures and instruments
The catalogue on groundwater management and governance tools, measures and instruments will be developed and introduced during the summit. Its purpose is a better provision of information on groundwater management and governance, encompassing technical tools as well as legal, regulatory and institutional arrangements. The catalogue will provide essential information on supply-side/demand-side interventions and quality protection, and it will be accompanied by a set of international case profiles considered to be exemplary practice. The catalogue will be made available in Wikipedia-like format, allowing for easy access and participation/update.
The WWDR 2022 and the Catalogue are already under development and a broad participation is very welcome. You can contact us at: info@un-igrac.org
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