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Groundwater is,
for many of us, an invisible resource. Access to groundwater, however, is among
the most important factors influencing rural poverty, environmental conditions
and economic development in much of the Third World. Groundwater is also
becoming possibly the most important resource constraint being faced by humanity
as it becomes increasingly depleted and polluted by human activities.
One of ISET’s
main areas of focus is in emerging problems of significant impact associated with groundwater scarcity. ISET collaborated with the UN Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (UNDESA) to analyze the environmental, social and economic
implications of emerging global groundwater problems. Groundwater
and Society: Resources, Tensions and Opportunities was the result of this collaborative effort, published in 1999. With this
important document we intend to increase recognition of groundwater problems and
options for addressing them in higher-level policy dialogues.
ISET is currently collaborating with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on a follow-up to the above publication, Groundwater and Social Transition: Responding to Risk, Variability and the Limits of Management. This document focuses on local solutions to groundwater problems in the context of social and economic transition. It argues that conventional approaches to integrated water management, whilst important, are most often inappropriate for the complex and far-reaching problem of groundwater dependence.
Another collaborative effort between ISET and FAO was the production of the document Rethinking the Approach to Groundwater and Food Security,published in 2002. This publication highlights the importance of groundwater as a reliable source of water in ensuring food security in agriculture, but also points out the dangers inherent in this growing dependency on the resource. The study highlights the role of adaptive strategies in dealing with aquifer management and indicated directions of research and management.
ISET continues to
collaborate with FAO and other organizations on groundwater and related poverty,
livelihood, food security and environmental issues.
World Water
Forums
ISET was a co-convener with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IHA) of the Groundwater session at the Second World Water Forum at The Hague in March of 2000, and participated in several sessions at the Third World Water Forum in Kyoto in March 2003.