Groundwater is widely used as a source for agriculture, livestock and domestic consumption. Challenges arise with accessing both shallow and deep groundwater, water quality and management of the resources. Limited qualitative and quantitative data is available making allocation, regulation and management of this recourse difficult. Groundwater is a reliable, and often untapped, source of which the use can contribute to the livelihoods of smallholders. However, it is a source which is difficult to monitor, and for which overuse can have detrimental long-term effects.

Do you know platforms or knowledge hubs you would like to share with us? Please let us know us via info@viawater.nl.

Platforms to gain or share ideas on sustainable use of groundwater resources

• http://www.unep.org/gemswater/
  • GEMStat is designed to share surface and ground water quality data sets collected from the GEMS/Water Global Network, including more than 3,700 stations, close to 4.3 million records, and over 100 parameters.
• www.groundwaterportal.org
  • The UNESCO-IHP Groundwater Portal is a joint initiative of UNESCO-IHP's Section on Groundwater Systems and Settlements and the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC). The main objective is to share information, knowledge and resources which result from projects and programmes carried out by those two organisations as well as their project and institutional partners.
• www.un-igrac.org/ggis
  • The Global Groundwater Information System (GGIS) is an interactive, web-based portal to groundwater-related information and knowledge. The main purpose of the system is to assist in collection and analysis of information on groundwater resources and its sharing among water experts, decision makers and public.
• https://ggis.un-igrac.org/ggis-viewer/mim/search
  • Meta Information Module (MIM) is the reference core of the Global Groundwater Information System (GGIS). It contains all references documents of the GGIS, other interesting groundwater related documents and meta information on groundwater specialists and water organisations. You can enter any search term to search the information you are looking for. The filter options on the left hand side of the page can be used to narrow down the total list of results.