Climate Change Effects on Groundwater Resources

by: Holger Treidel , José Luis Martin-Bordes , Jason J Gurdak

Groundwater is an essential part of the hydrological cycle and is a valuable natural resource
providing the primary source of water for agriculture, domestic, and industrial uses in many
countries. Groundwater is now a significant source of water for human consumption, supplying nearly half of all drinking water in the world (WWAP 2009) and around 43 percent
of all water effectively consumed in irrigation (Siebert et al. 2010). Groundwater also is
important for sustaining streams, lakes, wetlands, and ecosystems in many countries.
The use of groundwater has particular relevance to the availability of many potablewater supplies because groundwater has a capacity to balance large swings in precipitation and associated increased demands during drought and when surface water resources
reach the limits of sustainability. During extended droughts the utilization of groundwater
for irrigation is expected to increase, including the intensified use of non- renewable
groundwater resources, which may impact the sustainability of the resource. However,
global groundwater resources may be threatened by human activities and the uncertain
consequences of climate change.