From 23 to 27 August 2021, SIWI organized the World Water Week 2021. This year’s edition was still held online, and this digital conference hosted 13,000 participants from 188 countries. On Friday morning, the Friends of Groundwater co-convened a session on groundwater quality.
Building resilient communities: it’s time to take groundwater quality seriously
Have you ever given groundwater quality a second thought? It is perhaps all too easy to overlook this aspect of groundwater given the pressing need to meet growing abstraction demands. The groundwater quality session provided an opportunity to learn about and discuss the important role groundwater plays in building resilient water futures and in particular consider the critical aspect of water quality.
After introductory talks by IGRAC and ECHN, a range of case studies was presented from around the world to demonstrate how groundwater quality enhances and/or constrains the development of groundwater resources in different regions globally. This included presentations by the Commissioner for Water Resources Planning and Regulation from Uganda, the University of Fada N'Gourma/Burkina Faso, Umvoto Africa and also a prerecorded video by IGRAC.
There was also an opportunity to participate in a Q&A session with an expert panel. Representatives of IGRAC, IAH, Eawag, UNEP and Aquaya answered questions from the audience and thereby concluded a successful groundwater quality session.