Groundwater Management

There is more freshwater stored underground than anywhere else on the planet. Almost 50% of all drinking water globally comes from groundwater. Shallow groundwater use in particular has underpinned agricultural growth in many parts of the world. Groundwater serves as buffer in variable and changing climates. Groundwater is  driving many agroecological processes.

​Yet groundwater resources are usually not well understood, let alone monitored. Worse still, they are in most instances unmanaged. They are prone to overuse and pollution. The neglect of aquifer systems and the destruction of springs is one of the looming disasters of the twenty-first century.

Improved governance and judicious management of groundwater is a major theme in MetaMeta. In supporting effective groundwater governance we undertake  hydrological analyses, groundwater planning, training and research, and we help putting in place on-the-ground management of aquifer systems.

Groundwater: Pakistan SCARP drainage
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India AP training on groundwater

We combine support to policy and awareness with the introduction of practical solutions. We promote:

  • Improved policy and governance
  • Regulation and awareness
  • Conjunctive management of surface and groundwater resources
  • Local user-based management of groundwater
  • Effective groundwater recharge at landscape level
  • Water demand management.
www.groundwatermanagement.org 
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