Groundwater: How to better protect this hidden treasure?

When we think of water in landscapes, we often imagine a river flowing through a field or cityscape. And we ignore the hidden water, below our feet: groundwater, that makes up 99 percent of all freshwater that is not frozen. It provides nearly half of the world’s population with drinking water and contributes to about half of global food production.

The quality of groundwater largely depends on the characteristics of the surface through which it infiltrates before reaching the groundwater layers. This makes it vulnerable to pollution from land-use activities such as agriculture, urban infrastructure and waste disposal, affecting the health of people and biosphere.

Since it is only visible once it discharges in surface water bodies, or is extracted, it is also not as obvious to our eyes if groundwater resources are being over extracted or depleted.