A Summary on the Special Issue “Sustainability of Groundwater”

Abstract

One of the most common denominators for almost any form of life is the existential need for water. This need has recently received much attention in the frame of sustainability discussions [1,2]. In addition, environmental sustainability and safe access to fresh water is one of the eight United Nation's millennium development goals, and ultimately most conditions of life rely on water. Expected higher water demands for irrigation, industrial and household purposes outline the need for more investment in freshwater characterization and quantification. In addition, factors including climate change, large-scale reservoirs, re-channelling of streams, expansion of urban centres as well as chemical and microbial loading need to be taken into account.Within this framework groundwater plays an important role, because it is a compartment that has received little attention due to its hidden nature. This is particularly important for continental groundwater that is estimated to make up between only 0.3 and 1.6% of the global water budget [3]. From this small proportion, only a fraction is useable due to high salinity of mostly deeper groundwater. Nonetheless, groundwater is by far the most mined resource worldwide and is used in irrigation, industry and households [4,5]. For instance, Foster and Chilton [6] evaluated that groundwater globally provides 50% of drinking water, 40% of industrial water and 20% of the water used for irrigation. Other figures produced by the United Nations Environment Programme [7] indicate that today more than 25% of the world population (i.e. 1.5 to 2 billion people) rely on groundwater with expected future rapid growth. This growth in demand is partially due to better technologies that OPEN ACCESS

Analysis of Factors in Land Subsidence in Shanghai: A View Based on a Strategic Environmental Assessment

“…Much research is conducted into maintaining sustainable levels of groundwater extraction [1][2][3]. In Shanghai, groundwater pumping started in the early 1860s, and it has resulted in serious land subsidence [4][5][6][7].…”

Conditions for the Sustainable Development of Underground Transport in the Ljubljana Basin

“…In particular, the focus of the research was the short-term and long-term effects of tunneling on the complex hydrogeological systems of the Ljubljana Basin. In particular, the groundwater was seen as a major valuable resource, and sustainability must be considered with great care, as emphasized by Becker et al [4].…”