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Groundwater in Peril

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Sustaining Groundwater Resources

Part of the book series: International Year of Planet Earth ((IYPE))

Abstract

Groundwater is being exploited, overexploited and polluted as never before. Agriculture is a major cause, with rising levels of irrigation and overuse of artificial fertilisers. High levels of pollution in surface water bodies have also led to greater use of groundwater. In some areas, however, downdraft has led to oxidation of bedrocks and release of arsenic, most notably in West Bengal and Bangladesh. Falling water tables in the Ganges delta may be intensified by management of surface water, especially river diversions. Internationally shared aquifers, as between Israel and the West Bank, continue to be a source of disagreement and present a potential cause for ‘water wars’, although the ‘Berlin Rules’ brought groundwater into the realm of international law for the first time in 2004. Less well publicised is the complex interaction between groundwater and the sea, with groundwater acting as both victim and booster. The latest drive to extract oil and gas from shales by ‘hydrofracking’ holds new threats for groundwater resources. So too does climate change. Sustainable management of groundwater resources will require better monitoring; data capture; storage and accessibility; improved modelling; more efficient water use, particularly in agriculture; and more measures to improve groundwater recharge.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks Professor Martina Flörke of Kassel University for providing the data from her simulation of potential groundwater recharge rates using the WaterGAP model, which was used to produce Fig. 1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK

    J. Anthony A. Jones

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  1. J. Anthony A. Jones
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Correspondence to J. Anthony A. Jones .

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  1. Aberystwyth University, Institute of Geography & Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth, SY23 3DB, United Kingdom

    J. Anthony A. Jones

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Jones, J.A.A. (2011). Groundwater in Peril. In: Jones, J. (eds) Sustaining Groundwater Resources. International Year of Planet Earth. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3426-7_1

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