Groundwater: Invisible yet Indispensable

Groundwater lies literally buried under layers of soil and rock. It is therefore difficult to monitor, manage, and govern. At the same time, it is a crucial resource: it makes for 98% of all available freshwater on the planet, 50% of all drinking water, 40% of all irrigation water, a third of all water used in industry. In the ongoing Year of Groundwater (2022), an international effort is underway to put groundwater front and centre of policy, research, and practice, to achieve much needed improvement in management and governance of this crucial resource globally.