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On Adapting to Global Groundwater Crisis

Introduction Groundwater storage is dynamic in that rechargedischarge relationships function on various timescales from years and decades in the short term to centuries and millennia in the long term. Unconfined aquifers and associated confined aquifers experience short-term storage variations that are directly relevant to sustainable water management. This “renewable storage” is amenable to coordinated management with surface water storage that directly responds to rainfall variations. Groundwater storage changes on timescales of centuries or more are effectively “nonrenewable” and cannot be relied on for continued, stable water supplies. They are of value in a limited sense of one-time availability. The global groundwater crisis centers on withdrawals notably exceeding short-term renewable storage, and having adopted agricultural, industrial, and other uses that rely on nonrenewable groundwater. Such persistent use will lead to societal conflict as the nonrenewable sources inevitably dwindle. Stress will be exacerbated by water quality degradation due to human activities and multiyear droughts that are likely within the timescale of human generations. The hydrological cycle places definite limits on quantities of surface water and groundwater that can be diverted for human use. To ensure stable water supplies, societal water needs have to conform to water availability, and water management has to be based on coordinated use of groundwater storage with surface water storage, water quality protection, and water conservation. This article examines the global groundwater crisis within the framework of the hydrological cycle and offers perspectives on science and human challenges of adaptation.