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Groundwater: the invisible resource

Groundwater is among the most important natural resources. It is the source of public supply to households and businesses: it provides half of the volume of water withdrawn for domestic use by the global population, including the drinking water for the vast majority of the rural population who do not get their water delivered to them via  supply systems.
In different regions of the world, 50% or more of the water used for irrigation comes from groundwater. Withdrawals of groundwater is expected to rise as the population increases and surface water availability become more limited. Climate change, increasing variation in rainfall patterns and growing water demand by all sectors will make the valuable groundwater resources even more sought after. In spite of its great abondance and overall availability, the explosion in demand will push groundwater extraction to unsustainable levels (which is already the case in many areas) and ultimately to depletion.
The 2022 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report , which will be released on World Water Day (22 March) 2022, will expand on importance of properly protecting and managing groundwater resources in the fight against poverty, the creation of decent jobs, sustainable development and increasing the resilience of the societies and economies to climate change.