On Tuesday August 30th, IWMI Director General Jeremy Bird and Dr. Alvar Closas launched GRIPP at Stockholm World Water Week to an engaged audience of hydrologists, climatologists, and other experts. His call for a strong partnerships, scientific research, and rule-enforcement across regions was well received by the meeting participants who gathered at the IWMI stand. “Within GRIPP, we work on documenting practical lessons learned from policies and tested solutions in groundwater management at a global, national and sub-national level. These are made easily accessible to decision makers, and pave the way for solutions to be shared across continents,” writes Dr. Jeremy Bird in his op-ed in the Huffington Post.
Pumped Dry, A USA Today film about groundwater depletion around the world, served as a backdrop to the evening’s conversation, reminding those in attendance that the issue they discussed was all too real. The launch was followed by an earnest dialogue about the state of groundwater resources management over light refreshments and cocktails. “It’s easy to develop big management plans and think at the strategic level of how groundwater sustainability can be developed and enforced, but it’s only at the local level where these things can be improved and checked—this can show us the way forward,” remarked Dr. Alvar Closas during one such discussion. This reminder will not go unheeded, as GRIPP moves forward to increase knowledge surrounding groundwater issues and promote collective and comprehensive action.
Join us for the GRIPP/IAH-MAR session at the 43rd IAH Congress in Montpellier, France at the end of September, and subscribe to GRIPP News for more updates.
