International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre G d t M ti th Groundwater Management in the Context of Global Change Context of Global Change Dr Neno Kukuric Bangkok, June 2011 Groundwater from Global Perspective IGRAC - International Groundwater Resource Assessment Centre is (since 2003) UNESCO and WMO groundwater centre IGRAC facilitates and promotes global sharing of information and knowledge required for sustainable groundwater resources and knowledge required for sustainable groundwater resources development and management. Focused on information and Focused on information and knowledge management, transboundary aquifer assessment d d t it i and groundwater monitoring Receives financial support from the Receives financial support from the government of The Netherlands Hosted by the UNESCO-IHE in Delft, The Netherlands.
Transcript
International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre
G d t M t i thGroundwater Management in the Context of Global ChangeContext of Global Change
Dr Neno Kukuric Bangkok, June 2011
Groundwater from Global Perspective IGRAC - International Groundwater Resource Assessment
Centre is (since 2003) UNESCO and WMO groundwater centre
IGRAC facilitates and promotes global sharing of information and knowledge required for sustainable groundwater resourcesand knowledge required for sustainable groundwater resources development and management.
Focused on information and Focused on information and knowledge management,transboundary aquifer assessment
d d t it iand groundwater monitoring
Receives financial support from the Receives financial support from the government of The Netherlands
Hosted by the UNESCO-IHE in Delft, The Netherlands.
Groundwater from Global Perspective Groundwater makes up more than 95% of the unfrozen freshwater
reserves on our planet. Worldwide groundwater is used for almost 50% of drinking water supply for about 20% of irrigation water and for 10of drinking water supply, for about 20% of irrigation water and for 10-15% of industrial water use.
Groundwater is often a Groundwater is often a possible solution for the people without access to safe drinking water (1 in 6safe drinking water (1 in 6 worldwide).
Strong regeneration Strong regeneration, buffering and supportingcharacteristics of groundwater system are ofgroundwater system are of great importancein sustaining groundwater fed wetlands and vegetation, baseflow to rivers habitat to micro organisms providing strength to soilbaseflow to rivers, habitat to micro-organisms, providing strength to soil matrix and preventing sea water intrusion.
Groundwater from Global Perspective Global change, population growth and climate variability are
increasing the pressure on groundwater resources.
Making full benefitfrom the availablefrom the available groundwater resources and controlling effectivelycontrolling effectively the widespread groundwater-related problems areproblems are becoming even more demanding tasks.
In this respect, global groundwater assessment and sharingp g g ggroundwater information and experience on a worldwide scale is very much required. This is what IGRAC is for and what IGRAC does.
IGRAC Portal
www.igrac.net
IGRAC: Scope of Activities Global Groundwater Information System (GGIS) Global Groundwater Assessment / Transboundary Assessment Global Groundwater Monitoring
Global Groundwater Assessment Regular contribution to a World Water Development Report
(WWDR) as an orderly insight in state of global groundwater resourcesresources
providing information - building the groundwater case
Global Groundwater Assessment Global Inventory of MAR - Managing Aquifer Recharge, together
with Acacia Water
f Assessment of Arsenic andFluoride worldwide
providing information - building the groundwater case
Global Groundwater Assessment Groundwater salinity worldwide, including drivers, dynamics,
risks and opportunities, prevention and mitigation measures
providing information - building the groundwater case
Internationally Shared Aquifers The fact: many aquifers cross the political borders
Potential cross-boundary problems: changes in groundwater flows, levels, volumes (quantity) and dissolved (q y)substances (quality).
Actions: aquifer Actions: aquifer characterisation and an appropriate management.
Benefits: eliminating potential sources of conflict and improving the overall benefit from groundwater.
( ti ith OAS SADC INWEB(cooperation with OAS, SADC, INWEB, UNECE, OOS, GWP-MED, GEF, UNEP, UNDP..)
UNECE Assessments in Europe and Asia
Participation in GEF (Global Environment Facility) projectsFacility) projects
Development of a TBA Methodology andCa TBA Course, contribution to WWAP, …
A map Transboundary Aquifers of the World A map Transboundary Aquifers of the World
providing information – bringing people together
ISARM Portal
www.isarm.net
providing information – bringing people together
providing information – bringing people together
providing information – bringing people together
Global Groundwater Monitoring
Inventory of existing guidelines and protocolsf d t t d it ifor groundwater assessment and monitoring
World-wide inventory of groundwatery gmonitoring practices
Development of guidelines on groundwater monitoring for g ggeneral reference purposes(by an international WorkingGroup led by IGRAC)Group led by IGRAC)
Global Groundwater Monitoring
Global Groundwater Monitoring
GGMN: a participative web-based network of networks
Groundwater in the Changing World
Climate Change Human impact
Groundwater in Emergency Situations Adjustment of thinking beyond the traditional approach to
hydrogeological investigation and the conventional appraisal of groundwater resources (e g mapping possible short termof groundwater resources (e.g. mapping possible short-term yields aquifers with acceptable quality).
Example: Impact of 2004 tsunami on groundwaterExample: Impact of 2004 tsunami on groundwater
sea water intrusion to coastal aquifers, contraction of freshwater lenses on small islands increased demand.
Groundwater can also be affected by non-climatic drivers, such as: population growth population growth,
food demand and land use change. g
Active consideration of both climatic and non-climatici k i d i i lrisks in groundwater management is vital.
Groundwater and Climate Change
“groundwater is the major source of drinkinggroundwater is the major source of drinking water across much of the world… but there has been very little research on the potential effectsbeen very little research on the potential effects
of climate change”.
Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in both their 3rd (2001) and 4th (2007) Assessment Reports
Groundwater and Climate Change
Climate change impacts on long-term average groundwater recharge(renewable groundwater resources) Döll and Flörke (2005)( g ) ( )
Groundwater and Climate Change Dramatic decreases in GW recharge projected in: NE Brazil, SW
Africa and along the southern rim of the Mediterranean Sea. Increases in GW recharge projected in: parts of the Sahel, the
Near East, N China, Siberia, and W USA. Where trends in river runoff have been identified a similar trend Where trends in river runoff have been identified, a similar trend
in GW recharge is expected. However, due to lack of data, no ever-present climate-related trends for GW recharge or levels could be determined for the 20th c Observed declines in GWcould be determined for the 20th c. Observed declines in GW tables are mostly due to unsustainable high abstraction rates.
In aquifers with significant seasonal snow cover, GW recharge q g , gmight decrease due to less snow in a warmer world.
Climate change may lead to vegetation changes which also affect GW rechargeaffect GW recharge.
Data, Models and Predictions
Land-surface models embedded in G l Ci l ti M d l d ffliGeneral Circulation Models and offline macro-scale hydrological modelscontinue to employ simplistic p y pcharacterisations of groundwater systems due, in part, to the absence of global or continental-scale datasetsof global or continental scale datasets to test or tune these models.
Satellite monitoring of changes in t t l t t d th G ittotal water storage under the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) brings valuable insight but also has clear limitations
‘we are guessing rather than assessing global water resources’assessing global water resources .
Terrestrial Groundwater Monitoring Both the models and remote sensing need terrestrial data for
calibration and verification. A concern about model oversimplification and about
overvaluing of proxy information There is clear need for expansion of groundwater monitoring There is clear need for expansion of groundwater monitoring
networks to improve understanding and management of the groundwater system under global hydrological change.
No systematic monitoring and assessment of groundwater change on global scale.
IGRAC is setting up a sustainable IGRAC is setting up a sustainable Global Groundwater Monitoring Network (GGMN) for a periodic
t f th l b l h fassessment of the global change of groundwater resources
GGMN a participative web-based p pnetwork of networks, containing aggregate values
Groundwater and Adaptation Measures Integrating the management of surface water and groundwater
resources (also to avoid mutual adversely impact) Managing aquifer recharge (MAR) or Recharge, Retention and
Reuse (3-R)
provides multiple benefits storing water for future use, stabilizing or recovering groundwater levels in over-exploited aquifers, reducing evaporative losses, managing saline intrusion or land subsidence, and enabling reuse of waste or storm water.
Land use change – changing land use may provide an opportunity to enhance recharge, to protect groundwater quality and to reduce groundwater losses from evapotranspirationand to reduce groundwater losses from evapotranspiration. Changes in land use should not result in adverse impacts to other parts of the environment.
Groundwater in the Changing World
‘The trouble with our times isThe trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be’
P l V l (1871 1945)Paul Valery (1871 - 1945)
Groundwater in the Changing World Flow of information
modern technology, data collection, knowledge sharing, i i ibl d t i t ti l t dinvisible groundwater, international assessment and management…
Global impact of population & wealth growth,Global impact of population & wealth growth,food demand and land use change water footprint: the volume of water that is used
to produce the goods and services consumed:to produce the goods and services consumed: e.g. 15500 liters of water per kg of beef.
everything in combination with climate change!
People Only infrastructure is not solving the problem Only infrastructure is not solving the problem Education, awareness and problem ownership
Participative approach (from data gathering to the process control)
Building a case for (invisible) groundwater (by embedding groundwater in broader contextgroundwater in broader context such as food security and ecosystem preservation) P l f t it i ll b t People factor: it is all about emotions
