Warning of water crises: UNESCO calls for the sustainable use of groundwater supplies worldwide
Created: 03/21/2022, 21:45
By: Bettina Menzel
The UN World Water Report calls for better use of groundwater.
Because in many regions of the world water is becoming scarce (symbol image).
© picture alliance/dpa |
Javier Corbalan
The importance of groundwater is poorly understood and poorly managed around the world, according to the 2022 World Water Report.
Two out of five people live in regions with water scarcity.
Dakar, Senegal - For many people, water comes naturally from the tap, but that's not the case everywhere.
Two out of five people worldwide live in regions where water is scarce.
2.2 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water.
The UN world water report, which Unesco carried out on behalf of the United Nations, warns of future water crises.
These can only be mastered with a sensible use of groundwater - but groundwater is poorly managed worldwide and poorly understood.
World Water Report 2022 warns of water crises due to climate change and population growth
Water scarcity is already a problem in modern cities.
The Spanish city of Seville, for example, is acutely struggling with water shortages.
In the South African metropolis of Cape Town, the water supply to the population has also been rationed several times in the past.
Experts say this problem will only get worse in the future due to climate change.
By 2050, 216 million people could be displaced from their homes – one of the reasons, alongside drought and floods: water shortages.
The World Water Report 2022, which was presented on Monday (March 21) at the World Water Forum in Senegal's capital Dakar, also warns that less and less surface water is available due to climate change.
At the same time, water consumption will increase by around one percent annually over the next 30 years due to population and economic growth as well as changing consumption habits.
Water crises can therefore only be overcome with the help of groundwater.
Groundwater is so important - and so poorly used
Groundwater is the source of about half of the water used by private households worldwide, according to the latest UN World Water Report.
Roughly a quarter of irrigation in agriculture depends on groundwater.
Despite this enormous importance, groundwater is “poorly understood and poorly managed” in many places.
According to the report, in some regions there is dramatic overexploitation and pollution of the groundwater.
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Groundwater is used most intensively in Asia.
The amount removed primarily through agriculture is twice as high as on all other continents combined.
At the same time, the groundwater is heavily polluted.
However, other areas of the world use it too little.
Europe, for example, extracts significantly less groundwater at six percent of the global amount and uses it primarily for drinking water production.
However, the nitrate pollution in Germany is much too high.
In many sub-Saharan African countries, the huge groundwater reserves are hardly used because there is a lack of infrastructure and skilled workers, the report says.
It would be a "just as safe as it is cheap and reliable way" to supply rural regions with water.
“The World Water Report reveals devastating knowledge and regulatory gaps about groundwater.
In many regions of the world, groundwater is being excessively pumped out of the ground without considering the consequences,” explains Ulla Burchardt, board member of the German Unesco Commission.
“Sometimes the stocks don’t replenish themselves, sometimes the ground is sinking as a result.
In other areas, on the other hand, more groundwater could be used and thus increase food security.
In Germany, on the other hand, the limit values for nitrate in groundwater are exceeded at every sixth measuring point, which is why the European Court of Justice condemned Germany in 2018,” Burchardt continued.
UN World Water Report: How governments can improve groundwater use
The study calls for more investment and better regulation by governments to protect groundwater.
The World Water Report demands that investments in groundwater management must be increased and at the same time more and better data on groundwater must be collected.
In addition, stricter environmental regulations would have to be enacted and implemented.
Investments should also be strengthened through development cooperation, the UN report goes on to say.
It is also possible to store seasonal surpluses of surface water in aquifers.
This could help to reduce evaporation losses, such as those that occur in reservoirs.
Access to safe water and sanitation services is a human right and one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
This is commemorated by World Water Day on March 22
(bm with material from AFP and Unesco).
