Publish at October 19 2022 Updated October 19 2022
Available in English, French, Spanish, and Italian, the "UN World Water Development Report 2022: Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible" provides detailed information on groundwater supplies and highlights their importance to the supply of water for humans and the environment alike.
It is not only a state of the art of current resources: it paints a picture of the challenges ahead and proposes new ways to manage water more efficiently and sustainably in order to meet the needs of an ever-expanding world population and to better respond to global climatic, environmental and political crises.
The report sets the record straight on our preconceptions related to groundwater, the importance of which has been vastly underestimated.
"Groundwater, which constitutes nearly 99% of all liquid freshwater supplies on Earth, can provide societies with immense social, economic, and environmental opportunities and benefits. Groundwater already provides half of the amount of water withdrawn for domestic use by the world's population, including drinking water supplied to a large majority of the rural population, which is not served by public or private distribution systems, and about 25% of all water withdrawn for irrigation purposes.
Yet this natural resource remains poorly understood and, as a result, is undervalued, poorly managed, and even wasted."
It's 14 chapters are essential reading for anyone involved in water management in their jurisdiction.
Ideally, groundwater should be managed as a community resource to achieve food security and equitable, sustainable development for all.
UN World Water Development Report 2022: Groundwater: making the invisible visible
UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme [488]
ISBN: 978-92-3-200252-5
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380723
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