Groundwater and sustainable management of aquifers

Aquifers, globally, host by far the most important reserve of liquid fresh water, with a mass ratio of almost 100 to 1 compared to surface water stock. They represent the only source of drinking water for about one-third of humanity and are a key resource, in terms of resilience and quality, for coping with recurring climate crises that mainly affect surface water. Research on groundwater is not only aimed at quantification, chemical analysis, and parameterization, but also at defining sustainable exploitation and management methods, preventing phenomena such as salinization, subsidence, alteration of groundwater-dependent ecosystems, and hydrogeological interference induced by mining and tunnelling.