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Explore groundwater development as a critical solution for climate resilience in this 57-minute lecture by Alan MacDonald, Head of Groundwater Division at the British Geological Survey. Examine how groundwater development is expanding globally in response to increasing water demands and declining reliability of surface water sources and rainfall patterns. Challenge common narratives of overexploitation and crisis by understanding the complex hydrogeological, climatic, and societal conditions that shape groundwater trajectories. Discover through African and South Asian case studies how groundwater often silently addresses current water challenges posed by growing populations, unreliable public supply, and climate change. Learn about sub-Saharan Africa's crystalline basement aquifers that sustain rural water supplies while naturally self-regulating against over-extraction, and examine evidence showing how groundwater development can actually increase recharge rates. Analyze how private wells in urban areas mitigate water insecurity from unreliable municipal supplies, enabling city growth and development. Investigate South Asia's advanced groundwater development, particularly in India and Pakistan, where 20th-century canal construction fundamentally altered hydrogeology by increasing recharge and raising groundwater levels. Understand the current impacts of high irrigation abstraction on groundwater levels and river baseflow, while considering how climate variability, glacier melting, and changing precipitation patterns affect groundwater storage. Gain insights into intervention opportunities for increasing abstraction sustainability and addressing the critical threat of deteriorating water quality in groundwater systems.
