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13 November 2019
Global Groundwater Sustainability – A Call to Action… do you want to sign?
I am excited about a new initiative called “Global Groundwater Sustainability: A call to action” that was first drafted at the recent Chapman conference in Valencia, Spain. Overall, we are a global group of scientists calling for action to ensure groundwater benefits society now and into the future, and hope that you would like to join us by signing.
3 October 2019
Groundwater pumping poses worldwide threat to riverine ecosystems
With the climate strikes happening all over the world, I sometimes wish I had a crystal ball that would allow me to look into the future. Or even better, a crystal ball that could show me different scenarios of what will happen if we change, or not. Well, I do not have a crystal ball, but I do have a global scale hydrological model.
25 September 2019
Groundwater and a ‘green drought’
Here in New South Wales (NSW) in southeastern Australia, a long-running drought continues. The government’s water minister Melinda Pavey noted recently that “This drought is more severe than NSW has ever experienced” and some of the worst in living memory.
27 June 2019
Upcoming Chapman conference “Quest for Sustainability of Heavily Stressed Aquifers at Regional to Global Scales”
Abstracts are due soon (July 10th) for the upcoming Chapman conference on groundwater sustainability on Oct 21-24, 2019 in Valencia Spain.
3 June 2019
Update on the groundwater situation in Cape Town
When the Cape Town water crisis first emerged it took almost a year before active contingencies were put in place. Four major ideas were proposed: (1) Intense water restrictions for municipal water users, (2) greywater recycling facilities, (3) groundwater augmentation of water supplies, and (4) desalination.Although not all the proposed ideas came to fruition, there was a significant increase in the installation of well points and boreholes for municipal and private use.
16 May 2019
Data sharing: an update on new and existing initiatives
Last year, Anne Van Loon wrote about data sharing initiatives in hydrology (“Data drought or data flood?” 28 May 2018). This post gives an update on existing and new initiatives.
8 May 2019
Video: Linking water planetary boundaries and UN Sustainable Development Goals
Water Underground creator Tom Gleeson prepared this quick research video (with no more than a toothbrush, a file holder, and a doughnut, in one take!) for the Ripples project meeting at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, that was held in April. In this video, he talks about using doughnut economics for linking water planetary boundaries and UN Sustainable Development Goals.
1 April 2019
Have you ever wondered if groundwater is connected to climate?
‘Groundwater-surface water interactions’ has become standard hydrologic lexicon and a perennial favorite session title at various conferences… but how often do you hear the phrase ‘groundwater-climate interactions’?
25 March 2019
Celestial groundwater – the subsurface plumbing for extraterrestrial life support
Have you ever taken a walk on the beach during a lowering (ebbing) tide and see mini-rivers grow and create beautiful drainage patterns before your eyes? These short-lived groundwater seepage features are tiny (and fast) analogs of how groundwater has shaped some parts of Mars! It appears that groundwater loosening sediments can lead to all sorts of scales of erosion on both Earth and Mars.
17 March 2019
Of Karst! – short episodes about karst
We often associate groundwater with large water storage and very slow water movement, for instance compared to rivers. But is it possible that groundwater flow can be as quick as stream flow? Of karst, it is possible!
18 February 2019
Water: underground source for billions could take more than a century to respond fully to climate change
While climate change makes dramatic changes to weather and ecosystems on the surface, the impact on the world’s groundwater is likely to be delayed, representing a challenge for future generations.
16 November 2018
the true meaning of life for a hydrogeologist….
I stumbled upon this quote from Nelson Henderson (a farmer from Manitoba) which encapsulates what I have been thinking about groundwater sustainability for a number of years…
18 July 2018
How deep does groundwater go? Mining (dark) data from the depths
We’ve all been asked (or do the asking), “where does your water come from?” This is a fundamental question for establishing a series of additional questions that can ultimately help define strategies for valuing and protecting a particular water resource.
28 September 2017
Western water wells are going dry
We recently mapped groundwater wells across the 17 western states [1], where half of US groundwater pumping takes place.
23 September 2017
Everything is connected
In recent years the human dimension of hydrology has become increasingly important.
17 July 2017
Good groundwater management makes for good neighbors
Post by Samuel Zipper, postdoctoral fellow at both McGill University and the University of Victoria, in Canada. You can follow Sam on Twitter at @ZipperSam. ___________________________________________________________ Dedicated Water Underground readers know that this blog is not just about water science, but also some of the more cultural impacts of groundwater. Keeping in that tradition, today’s post begins with a joke*: Knock, knock! Who’s there? Your neighbor Your neighbor who? Your neighbor’s groundwater, …
26 June 2017
What is the difference between ‘water withdrawal’ and ‘water consumption’, and why do we need to know?
Last week I had to teach my first class in global hydrology. When I showed the global trend on increasing demands and withdrawals I needed to explain the different terms as sometimes the term “water use” gets, well, misused.
15 May 2017
Squeezed by gravity: how tides affect the groundwater under our feet
While we don’t tend to notice Earth and atmospheric tides, they do affect both the land and the world’s largest freshwater resource located underneath our feet: groundwater. This occupies the pores that exist in geological materials such as sand or soil, much like water in a kitchen sponge.
24 April 2017
Global fossil groundwater resources—the grandkids like hanging out with the grandparents!!!
Post by Scott Jasechko, University of Calgary Groundwater is the world’s largest family of fresh and unfrozen water, and its members range from young to old. There are toddler groundwaters recharged more recently than the year ~1960. Our earlier research showed that these modern groundwaters make up only a small share of global groundwater stocks (Ref. 1 and Water Canada). But what of ancient ‘fossil’ groundwater—defined as groundwater that first …
20 March 2017
WTF of the WTF method
I recently wrote a term paper for one of my graduate classes on the limitations of the water table fluctuation (WTF) method, and I have to say, WTF!
