Groundwater is increasingly gaining the attention of stakeholders and decision-makers at all levels. This is because of the major social and economic benefits accrued from groundwater and its exploitation in urban and rural areas, or because we are approaching tipping points of resource depletion and degradation due to the under-appreciation, undervaluing and under-management of the resource.
The 3rd annual Southern African Development Community (SADC) Groundwater Conference, organized by the SADC – Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI) and supported by several partners of the Groundwater Solutions Initiative for Policy and Practice (GRIPP), will be held on November 24–26, 2020. The conference was initially planned to take place in…
The Mekong River Basin is enormous, covering 790,000 km2. The traditional focus has been on surface water resources, with a legacy of international diplomacy around infrastructure development and finding best options to harvest and harness the critical ecosystem services and surface water resources for the six countries sharing the Mekong…
The Groundwater Solutions Initiative for Policy and Practice (GRIPP), coordinated by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), hosted a webinar series together with the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), the University of Victoria (UVic) and several co-convening partners at this…
Unlocking the Potential of Groundwater for the Poor (UPGro) was a seven-year international research program (2013–2020) funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Nearly 200 of the world’s best researchers from more than 50…
Cooperative development and management of shared waters is widely recognized for its role in enhancing regional cooperation, water security and resilience. Protocols under the United Nations and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) call for cooperation on transboundary waters. Also, target 6.5 under Goal 6 of the United Nations Sustainable…
The spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – is closely associated with having access to sufficient clean water. Recently, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General, World Health Organization (WHO), demonstrated how people should wash their hands. WASH…
The African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) convened several meetings focused on its Pan-African Groundwater Program (APAGroP) during and prior to the 20th African Water Association (AfWA) International Congress and Exhibition (ICE) on February 24-27, 2020, in Kampala, Uganda. The aim of the meetings was to highlight the critical role…
Laos presents an interesting case of a surface water-dependent, developing country that may accelerate progress on a number of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by giving greater priority to the sustainable development of its groundwater resources. This is due to increasing seasonal variability in water availability as a result…
The rapid growth in urban population in developing countries along with inadequate coverage and reliability of public utility water supplies has led to a boom in the construction of private wells to gain access to groundwater. Building on previous work, the International Water Association (IWA) Groundwater Management Specialist Group published…
