10 / 130
[
] 10
A B
et ter
W
or ld
As global demand for freshwater resources expands,
governments have begun to focus their attention on ground-
water resources. Groundwater is an extremely important
source of freshwater on earth: around 98 % of the world’s
liquid freshwater is stored underground, which makes
groundwater a unique buffer against prolonged drought.
The importance of groundwater is evidenced by the fact that
worldwide, 2.5 billion people depend solely on groundwater
for their daily needs, it provides drinking water to at least
50% of the global population and accounts for 43% of all of
the water used for irrigation. However, the global groundwa-
ter withdrawals rate has at least tripled over the last 50 years
and still is increasing at an annual rate of between 1 and 2%.
The challenge of sustainable groundwater management
is compounded by the fact that aquifers are located in the
subsurface and as such there is often limited understanding
of their boundaries and characteristics. In transboundary
aquifers, borders complicate the acquisition of consistent
information on the entire aquifer, and information gaps,
conflicting interests and a lack of coordination across the
boundaries easily lead to problems where collaborative
approaches are not adopted.
Worldwide, more than 286 river basins are shared by at
least two countries and almost 600 transboundary aquifers
have been identified by UNESCO. SDG Target 6.5 calls for
countries to “implement integrated water resources manage-
ment (IWRM) at all levels, including through transboundary
cooperation, as appropriate”. This target explicitly recognises
that safe and reliable water resources are not possible without
transboundary cooperation.
UNESCO has been working for many years with its
Member States to improve scientific knowledge on these
transboundary waters and develop mechanisms for
better cooperation through a number of initiatives and
programmes. The International Shared Aquifer Resources
Management Programme (ISARM) established by UNESCO
Member States in 2000 is an example of an initiative which
has fostered water cooperation for the sustainable manage-
ment of groundwater resources through the compilation of a
world inventory of transboundary aquifers, the development
of best practices, case studies and guidance tools for decision
making concerning shared groundwater resources manage-
ment and the execution of regional and global projects.
The contribution of UNESCO to the preparation of the
International Law Commission’s Draft Articles on the Law of
Transboundary Aquifers, which recognise the importance of
establishing agreements and joint institutional arrangements
between States for their shared aquifers and aquifer systems,
has been coordinated under the ISARM initiative. ISARM
has catalysed the establishment of cooperative agreements
in various regions of the world, like South America (case
of Guarani Aquifer) and Southern Africa (case of Stampriet
Aquifer, see page 14).
In 2000, UNESCO launched the Potential Conflict to
Cooperation Potential (PCCP) initiative which aimed to high-
light the benefits of peaceful cooperation between nations on
the sharing of transboundary water resources. The develop-
ment of capacities and skills formed a critical component
of PCCP’s focus. Tailored training material was developed
and applied in Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the
Modern urban wastewater treatment plant
Image: Shutterstock/Photo: gyn9037