Data Source: FAO, UN and Water Resources

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Data Source: FAO, UN and Water Resources GROUNDWATER WATER DAY SPECIAL How bad is it already Aquifers under most stress are in poor and populated regions, where alternatives are limited Shrinking source Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin in 145 km3 21 8 India, Nepal and Bangladesh, More than half of the world's major aquifers, The amount of of world's 37 largest aquifer of these 21 aquifer systems North Caucasus Basin in Russia groundwater the systemsÐshaded in redÐlost are overstressed, which and Canning Basin in Australia which store groundwater, are depleting faster world extracts water faster than they could be means they get hardly any have the fastest rate of depletion than they can be replenished every year recharged between 2003 and 2013 natural recharge in the world Aquifer System where groundwater levels are depleting Pechora Basin Tunguss Basin (in millimetres per year) 3.038 1.664 Aquifer System where groundwater levels are increasing Northern Great Ogallala Aquifer Cambro-Ordovician Russian Platform Basin (in millimetres per year) 4.011 Yakut Basin Plains Aquifer (High Plains) Aquifer System 2.888 Map based on data collected by 4.954 0.309 2.449 NASA's Grace satellite between 2003 and 2013 Paris Basin 4.118 Angara-Lena Basin 3.993 West Siberian Basin Californian Central Atlantic and Gulf Coastal 1.978 Valley Aquifer System Plains Aquifer 8.887 5.932 Tarim Basin Song-Liao Basin North Caucasus Basin 0.232 2.4 Northwestern Sahara Aquifer System 16.097 Why aquifers are important 2.805 Nubian Aquifer System 2.906 North China Aquifer System Only three per cent of the world's water is freshwater; Murzuk-Djado Basin 7.501 30 per cent of which comes from aquifers 4.275 Taoudeni-Tanezrouft Basin Indus Basin Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin Freshwater sources 0.496 4.263 19.564 68.7% Arabian Aquifer System Amazon Basin Senegalo-Mauritanian Basin 9.13 Icecaps and glaciers 7.128 4.647 Ogaden-Juba Basin 30.1% Iullemeden-Irhazer 0.335 Groundwater Aquifer System 2.414 Sudd Basin (Umm Ruwaba Aquifer) 2.855 1.2% Lake Chad Basin Great Artesian Basin Surface/other freshwater Congo Basin Maranhao Basin 1.042 10.601 6.713 4.848 How we use it Upper Kalahari-Cuvelai- Lower Kalahari-Stampriet Basin Canning Basin Guarani Aquifer Upper Zambezi Basin 3.196 9.41 70% 24.283 Irrigation System 0.579 22% Karoo Basin Others, including industrial uses 5.588 8% Why we should worry The world will start to feel the impact of groundwater depletion by 2050 Domestic consumption Some of the aquifers Prepared by DTE/CSE Data Centre 1.8 billion 6,000 km3 25% in India, Pakistan, Infographics: Raj Kumar Singh people would live in areas additional water will be of the rise in sea levels southern Europe and Analysis: Kiran Pandey and Rajit Sengupta Data source: FAO, UN and Water Resources Research journal where groundwater levels are required annually to feed the will happen because of the western US would For more such infographics visit: www.downtoearth.org.in/infographics fully or nearly depleted ever-growing population groundwater extraction dry out 42 DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MARCH 2017 16-31 MARCH 2017 www.downtoearth.org.in 43 .
Recommended publications
  • Hydrogeochemical and Isotopic Indicators of Vulnerability and Sustainability in the GAS Aquifer, São Paulo State, Brazil T
    Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 14 (2017) 130–149 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ejrh Hydrogeochemical and isotopic indicators of vulnerability and sustainability in the GAS aquifer, São Paulo State, Brazil T ⁎ Trevor Elliota, , Daniel Marcos Bonottob a School of Natural and Built Environment (SNBE), Queeńs University Belfast, Stranmillis Road, Belfast, BT9 5AG, Northern Ireland, UK b Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas-IGCE, Universidade Estadual Paulista-UNESP, Av. 24-A No. 1515, P.O. Box 178, CEP 13506-900, Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Study region: The Guarani Aquifer System (GAS), São Paulo State, Brazil, an important freshwater Environmental Tracers (REEs, Br/Cl, B, δ11B, resource regionally and part of a giant, transboundary system. 87 86 Sr, Sr/ Sr) Study focus: Groundwaters have been sampled along a transect. Based on environmental tracers Groundwater (REEs, Br, B, δ11B, Sr, 87Sr/86Sr) aquifer vulnerability and sustainability issues are identified. Guarani Aquifer System (GAS) New hydrological insights for the region: For sites near to aquifer outcrop, REE and Sr signatures São Paulo State (and relatively light δ13C) trace possible vertical recharge from flood basalts directly overlying Aquifer vulnerability fi Aquifer sustainability the GAS. This highlights aquifer vulnerability where con ned by fewer basalts and/or having cross-cutting fractures. 14C activities for these waters, however, suggest the impact of this re- charge is significantly delayed in reaching the GAS. Anthropogenic sources for boron are not currently encountered; δ11B highlights feldspar dissolution, isotopically lighter signatures in the deepest sampled GAS waters resulting from pH/hydrochemical speciation changes down- gradient.
    [Show full text]
  • Guaraní Aquifer System Agreement
    Guaraní Aquifer System Agreement Alberto Manganelli Regional Center for Groundwater Management CeReGAS - Uruguay Virtual Workshop on designing legal frameworks for transboundary water cooperation 28-29 July 2020 Guaraní Aquifer System The Guaraní Aquifer System is located in the central-eastern part of South America It underlies in the territories of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay and it covers an area of 1,087,879 km2 The population located on the System is estimated at 90,000,000 inhabitants. The GAS has specific and complex physical, geological, chemical and hydraulic characteristics that were defined as part of the GEF International Waters project “Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development of the Guarani Aquifer System”. The project led to the formulation and adoption by the aquifer countries of a Strategic Action Program (SAP) aimed at the long-term sustainability of this huge freshwater resource. Following the adoption of the SA P, the aquifer countries negotiated and signed the “Guarani Aquifer Agreement” - the first shared-management agreement for a transboundary aquifer in Latin America The Guarani Aquifer Agreement (GAA) First of all it is important to highlight that the four countries sharing the GAS decided to negotiate an agreement in the absence of serious conflict over the natural resource The agreement has not yet entered into force as the last instrument of ratification remains to be deposited The GAA sets out a general management framework containing the general rules of international law applicable to transboundary water resources. Art. 2: "Each Party exercises sovereign territorial domain over their respective portions of the SAG ...." Art. 4: Countries must use the aquifer in an equitable and reasonable form.
    [Show full text]
  • THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT of GROUNDWATER in CANADA the Expert Panel on Groundwater
    THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF GROUNDWATER IN CANADA The Expert Panel on Groundwater Council of Canadian Academies Science Advice in the Public Interest Conseil des académies canadiennes THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF GROUNDWATER IN CANADA Report of the Expert Panel on Groundwater iv The Sustainable Management of Groundwater in Canada THE COUNCIL OF CANADIAN ACADEMIES 180 Elgin Street, Ottawa, ON Canada K2P 2K3 Notice: The project that is the subject of this report was undertaken with the approval of the Board of Governors of the Council of Canadian Academies. Board members are drawn from the RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS), as well as from the general public. The members of the expert panel responsible for the report were selected by the Council for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This report was prepared for the Government of Canada in response to a request from Natural Resources Canada via the Minister of Industry. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors – the Expert Panel on Groundwater. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication The sustainable management of groundwater in Canada [electronic resource] / Expert Panel on Groundwater Issued also in French under title: La gestion durable des eaux souterraines au Canada. Includes bibliographical references. Issued also in print format ISBN 978-1-926558-11-0 1. Groundwater--Canada--Management. 2. Groundwater-- Government policy--Canada. 3. Groundwater ecology--Canada. 4. Water quality management--Canada. I. Council of Canadian Academies.
    [Show full text]
  • Farming the Ogallala Aquifer: Short and Long-Run Impacts of Groundwater Access
    Farming the Ogallala Aquifer: Short and Long-run Impacts of Groundwater Access Richard Hornbeck Harvard University and NBER Pinar Keskin Wesleyan University September 2010 Preliminary and Incomplete Abstract Following World War II, central pivot irrigation technology and decreased pumping costs made groundwater from the Ogallala aquifer available for large-scale irrigated agricultural production on the Great Plains. Comparing counties over the Ogallala with nearby similar counties, empirical estimates quantify the short-run and long-run impacts on irrigation, crop choice, and other agricultural adjustments. From the 1950 to the 1978, irrigation increased and agricultural production adjusted toward water- intensive crops with some delay. Estimated differences in land values capitalize the Ogallala's value at $10 billion in 1950, $29 billion in 1974, and $12 billion in 2002 (CPI-adjusted 2002 dollars). The Ogallala is becoming exhausted in some areas, with potential large returns from changing its current tax treatment. The Ogallala case pro- vides a stark example for other water-scarce settings in which such long-run historical perspective is unavailable. Water scarcity is a critical issue in many areas of the world.1 Water is becoming increas- ingly scarce as the demand for water increases and groundwater sources are exhausted. In some areas, climate change is expected to reduce rainfall and increase dependence on ground- water irrigation. The impacts of water shortages are often exacerbated by the unequal or inefficient allocation of water. The economic value of water for agricultural production is an important component in un- derstanding the optimal management of scarce water resources. Further, as the availability of water changes, little is known about the speed and magnitude of agricultural adjustment.
    [Show full text]
  • Regional Groundwater Modeling of the Guarani Aquifer System
    water Article Regional Groundwater Modeling of the Guarani Aquifer System Roger D. Gonçalves 1 , Elias H. Teramoto 1 and Hung K. Chang 2,* 1 Center for Environmental Studies and Basin Studies Laboratory, São Paulo State University, UNESP, Rio Claro, SP 13506-900, Brazil; [email protected] (R.D.G.); [email protected] (E.H.T.) 2 Department of Applied Geology and Basin Studies Laboratory, São Paulo State University, UNESP, Rio Claro, SP 13506-900, Brazil * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 9 July 2020; Accepted: 17 August 2020; Published: 19 August 2020 Abstract: The Guarani Aquifer System (GAS) is a strategic transboundary aquifer system shared by Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. This article presents a groundwater flow model to assess the GAS system in terms of regional flow patterns, water balance and overall recharge. Despite the continental dimension of GAS, groundwater recharge is restricted to narrow outcrop zones. An important part is discharged into local watersheds, whereas a minor amount reaches the confined part. A three-dimensional finite element groundwater-flow model of the entire GAS system was constructed to obtain a better understanding of the prevailing flow dynamics and more reliable estimates of groundwater recharge. Our results show that recharge rates effectively contributing to the regional GAS water balance are only approximately 0.6 km3/year (about 4.9 mm/year). These rates are much smaller than previous estimates, including of deep recharge approximations commonly used for water resources management. Higher recharge rates were also not compatible with known 81Kr groundwater age estimates, as well as with calculated residence times using a particle tracking algorithm.
    [Show full text]
  • Underground Intelligenc
    !!""##$$%%&&%%''((""##))**""++$$,,,,--&&$$""..$$/)) 01$)"$$#)+')2345)2'"-+'%5)3"#)23"3&$) 63"3#378)&%'("#93+$%)%$8'(%.$8)-")3")$%3) ':)#%'(&1+)3"#).,-23+$).13"&$)) ) )))));<)=#)>+%(?-@) ) A'%)+1$)B%'&%32)'")C3+$%)*88($85) D("@)>.1'',)':)E,'F3,)G::3-%8)3+)+1$)!"-H$%8-+<)':)0'%'"+') ! ! !"#$%&'!()*+,-.)/011)$"! )!(,) ,*!2($34)5*+!)674)6189) )))))))) I("$)JJ5)KLJM) GF'(+)+1$)G(+1'%) Ed Struzik is a writer and journalist and a fellow at the Institute for Energy and (QYLURQPHQWDO3ROLF\DW4XHHQ¶V8QLYHUVLW\LQ&DQDGD$UHJXODWRUFRQWULEXWRUWRYale Environment 360 and several national and international magazines, he has been the recipient of Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy, the Michener Deacon Fellowship in Public Policy, the Knight Science Fellowship at MIT in Cambridge and the Sir Sandford Fleming Medal, which is award annually by WKH5R\DO&DQDGLDQ,QVWLWXWHWKHFRXQWU\¶V oldest scientific organization. GF'(+)+1$)B%'&%32)'")C3+$%)*88($8) The Program on Water Issues (POWI) creates opportunities for members of the private, public, academic, and not-for-profit sectors to join in collaborative research, dialogue, and education. The Program is dedicated to giving voice to those who would bring transparency and breadth of knowledge to the understanding and protection of Canada's valuable water resources. Since 2001, The Program on Water Issues has provided the public with analysis, information, and opinion on a range of important and emerging water issues. Its location within the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto provides access to rich analytic resources, state-of-the-art information technology, and international expertise. This paper can be found on the Program on Water Issues website at www.powi.ca. For more information on POWI or this paper, please contact: Adèle M.
    [Show full text]
  • Climate, Agriculture and Food Arxiv:2105.12044V1 [Econ.GN]
    Climate, Agriculture and Food Submitted as a chapter to the Handbook of Agricultural Economics Ariel Ortiz-Bobea∗† May 2021 Abstract Agriculture is arguably the most climate-sensitive sector of the economy. Grow- ing concerns about anthropogenic climate change have increased research interest in assessing its potential impact on the sector and in identifying policies and adaptation strategies to help the sector cope with a changing climate. This chapter provides an overview of recent advancements in the analysis of climate change impacts and adapta- tion in agriculture with an emphasis on methods. The chapter provides an overview of recent research efforts addressing key conceptual and empirical challenges. The chapter also discusses practical matters about conducting research in this area and provides re- producible R code to perform common tasks of data preparation and model estimation in this literature. The chapter provides a hands-on introduction to new researchers in this area. Keywords: climate change; impacts; adaptation; agriculture. Approximate length: 31,200 words. arXiv:2105.12044v1 [econ.GN] 25 May 2021 ∗Associate Professor, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell Univer- sity. Email: [email protected]. †I am thankful for useful comments provided by the editors Christopher Barrett and David Just as well as by Thomas Hertel and Christophe Gouel. Code and data necessary to reproduce the figures and analysis discussed in the chapter are available in a permanent repository at the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research (CISER): https://doi.org/10.6077/fb1a-c376. 1 Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 Basic concepts and data 6 2.1 Weather and climate .
    [Show full text]
  • Report 360 Aquifers of the Edwards Plateau Chapter 5
    Chapter 5 Hydrologic Relationships and Numerical Simulations of the Exchange of Water Between the Southern Ogallala and Edwards–Trinity Aquifers in Southwest Texas T. Neil Blandford1 and Derek J. Blazer1 Introduction The Edwards–Trinity aquifer is the most significant source of water on the Edwards Plateau, which covers approximately 23,000 square miles in southwest Texas. The aquifer is bounded to the northwest by the physical limit of the Cretaceous rocks, which occurs in the southern portions of Andrews, Martin, and Howard counties (Figure 5-1). The primary aquifer in these counties occurs in saturated sediments of the Ogallala Formation, but the Ogallala Formation sediments thin to the south and often occur above the water table in Ector, Midland, and Glasscock counties where saturated Cretaceous sediments form the predominant (Edwards–Trinity) aquifer. Where significant saturated thickness occurs in Cretaceous sediments, the Trinity Group Antlers sand is the dominant aquifer material. Within the study area, it is often difficult to differentiate between the two aquifers. This paper provides an overview of the hydrogeology of the far southern portion of the Southern High Plains and the northwestern margin of the Edwards Plateau where the transition occurs between the Southern Ogallala and Edwards–Trinity aquifers. The boundary between the two aquifers is transitional and is not well defined within much of this area. The approaches used in previously published modeling studies to simulate the flow of water across this boundary are reviewed, and modifications made to the recently developed Southern Ogallala Groundwater Availability Model (GAM) to evaluate alternative conceptual models of inter-aquifer flow are presented.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Conflict Risk Indicators Around the Guarani Aquifer
    CONFLICT RISK INDICATORS AROUND THE GUARANI AQUIFER SYSTEM Mohamed Redha MENANI1 Harrysson Luiz da Silva2 Ivana Lucia Franco Cei3 Luciana Ribeiro Lepri4 1 - Earth Sciences Dept – Batna University – Algeria - [email protected] 2 - Departamento de Geociencias Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina – UFSC – Brazil 3 - Ministério Público do Estado do Amapá - Brazil 4 - Ministério Público do Estado do Paraná - Brazil Abstract Among achievements related to the environmental protection and sustainable development of the Guarani aquifer system (GAS) project (World Bank, 2009), it was developed a framework for analyzing and classifying causes of critical issues and possible mitigation measures in a transboundary diagnostic analysis. The classified causes recognised are: natural (caused by climate change for example), primary or technical (related inter alia to low level sanitation coverage), secondary or economic management (uncontrolled use of the GAS…), tertiary or political (lack of legal norms or absence of managing institutions) and fundamental or socio-cultural (lack of public participation…). Some of these causes of critical issues resemble to the indicators or sub-indicators proposed in the evaluation method of the conflict risk's index around the transboundary water resources (Menani, 2009); method which will be tested here on the GAS’s case. In August 2010, the four countries signed the Guarani Aquifer System Agreement under the framework of MERCOSUR. Through this action, it is expected a better coordination and a joint management of this strategic shared aquifer. The current GAS data, rather reassuring, don’t mean that there isn't or that there wouldn’t be a risk of conflict about this cross-border aquifer.
    [Show full text]
  • Supplement of Earth Syst
    Supplement of Earth Syst. Dynam., 11, 755–774, 2020 https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-11-755-2020-supplement © Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Supplement of Groundwater storage dynamics in the world’s large aquifer systems from GRACE: uncertainty and role of extreme precipitation Mohammad Shamsudduha and Richard G. Taylor Correspondence to: Mohammad Shamsudduha ([email protected]) The copyright of individual parts of the supplement might differ from the CC BY 4.0 License. Supplementary Table S1. Characteristics of the world’s 37 large aquifer systems according to the WHYMAP database including aquifer area, total number of population, proportion of groundwater (GW)-fed irrigation, mean aridity index, mean annual rainfall, variability in rainfall and total terrestrial water mass (ΔTWS), and correlation coefficients between monthly ΔTWS and precipitation with reported lags. ) 2 2) Correlation between between Correlation precipitation TWS and (lag in month) GW irrigation (%) (%) GW irrigation on based zones Climate Aridity indices Mean (2002-16) annual precipitation (mm) Rainfall variability (%) (cm TWS variance WHYMAP aquifer number name Aquifer Continent (million)Population area (km Aquifer Nubian Sandstone Hyper- 1 Africa 86.01 2,176,068 1.6 30 12.1 1.5 0.16 (13) Aquifer System arid Northwestern 2 Sahara Aquifer Africa 5.93 1,007,536 4.4 Arid 69 17.3 1.9 0.19 (8) System Murzuk-Djado Hyper- 3 Africa 0.35 483,817 2.3 8 36.6 1.3 0.20 (-8) Basin arid Taoudeni- Hyper- 4 Africa 0.35
    [Show full text]
  • Innovative Solutions for Water Wars in Israel, Jordan, and The
    INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR WATER WARS IN ISRAEL, JORDAN AND THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY J. David Rogers K.F. Hasselmann Chair, Department of Geological Engineering 129 McNutt Hall, 1870 Miner Circle University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, MO 65409-0230 [email protected] (573) 341-6198 [voice] (573) 341-6935 [fax] ABSTRACT In the late 1950s Jordan and Israel embarked on a race to collect, convey and disperse the free-flowing waters of the Jordan River below the Sea of Galilee. In 1955 the Johnston Unified Water Plan was adopted by both countries as a treaty of allocation rights. By 1961 the Jordanians completed their 110-km long East Ghor Canal, followed by Israel’s 85-km long National Water Carrier, initially completed in 1964 and extended in 1969. The Johnston allocation plan was successfully implemented for 12 years, until the June 1967 war between Israel and her neighbor Arab states. The Israelis have spearheaded the effort to exploit the region’s limited water resources, using wells, pipelines, canals, recharge basins, drip irrigation, fertigation, wastewater recharge, saline irrigation and, most recently, turning to desalination. In 1977 they began looking at various options to bring sea water to the depleted Dead Sea Basin, followed by similar studies undertaken by the Jordanians a few years later. A new water allocation plan was agreed upon as part of the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty, but it failed to address Palestinian requests for additional allotments, which would necessarily have come from Jordan or Israel. The subject of water allocation has become a non-negotiable agenda for the Palestinian Authority in its ongoing political strife with Israel.
    [Show full text]
  • Walking on Water- Global Aquifers
    16 March 2011 Walking on Water Mendel Khoo Researcher FDI Global Food and Water Crises Research Programme Gary Kleyn Manager FDI Global Food and Water Crises Research Programme Summary Aquifers play a key role in the provision of water for farming and for consumption by animals and humans. Almost all parts of the global landmass hide a subterranean water body. Aquifers are underground beds or layers of permeable rock, sediment or soil where water is lodged and can be accessed to yield water. This paper explores some of the major aquifers around the world and determines how countries are coping with increased water usage. Analysis Studying aquifers presents a number of problems, in part because scientists are yet to develop a complete picture of the globe’s aquifer systems; the sub-surface geology still holds mysteries. Further discoveries of aquifers and information on their connectivity with surface water can be expected in the future. The process should be similar to the way in which new discoveries of energy sources beneath the earth’s surface are still being made. An additional impediment lies in the different terms used to describe aquifers, some of them arising simply because of language differences. Aquifers do not fit into one neat category, as there are many variations to their form. The terminology for aquifers can include: underground water basins; groundwater mounds; lakes and parts of rivers; as well as artesian basins, which are confined aquifers contained under positive pressure. Hence, aquifers are not only located underground but some, or all, parts may also be found on the surface.
    [Show full text]