Webinar is now ended. Playback/recording video will be available soon (normally within 24 hours after the event ends). Please come back to this page to check its availability.
Click to read:
» UN World Water Development Report 2022
» IAHR HydroLink 2019-3 Groundwater
Webinar on Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible
This webinar starts at 1pm UTC | 9pm Beijing | 9am New York | Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2022
Accounting for approximately 99% of all liquid freshwater on Earth and distributed over the entire globe, groundwater has the potential to provide societies with tremendous social, economic and environmental benefits. Groundwater is one of the most extracted natural resources which now provides half of the volume of water withdrawn for domestic use by the global population, and around 25% of all water withdrawn for irrigation. Despite its enormous importance, groundwater resource is often poorly understood, and consequently undervalued, mismanaged and even abused. The main reason for this to happen is identified as groundwater’s invisible nature, buried underground and therefore the problems are often “out of sight, out of mind”.
However, in spite of its overall abundance, groundwater remains vulnerable to overexploitation and pollution, both of which can have devastating effects on the resource and its availability.
Groundwater can no longer be kept invisible. Unlocking its full potential will require strong and concerted efforts to manage and use it sustainably, and it starts by “Making the Invisible Visible”.
In celebration of the World Water Day, the UN World Water Development Report 2022, to be officially launched on March 22, will focus on groundwater this year. To help better understand this important report, IWHR, IAHR, UNESCO World Water Assessment Program and GWP China are joining hands in organizing this webinar on March 30 that features a keynote presentation by Richard Connor, editor-in-chief of the World Water Development Report, on the highlights from the latest edition of this flagship UN report and on unlocking the immense potential of groundwater today and protecting it for tomorrow. Shahbaz Khan, director of the UNESCO Beijing Office, and Joseph Lee, president of IAHR, will be giving an opening address. Experts from 6 different continents will also provide diverse perspectives on this critical natural resource.
Invited Speakers
Program
Opening | (10 mins)
Introducing the webinar and speakers
Xin He | China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, China
Opening Address
Shahbaz Khan | Director of the UNESCO Beijing Office
Opening Address
Joseph H.W. Lee | President, IAHR; President, Macau University of Science and Technology, China
Keynote Speech | (45 mins)
Unlocking the immense potential of groundwater today and protecting the resource for tomorrow - Highlights from the 2022 Edition of the UN World Water Development Report
Richard Connor | Editor-in-Chief of the United Nations World Water Development Report, UNESCO World Water Assessment Program
Invited case studies | (60 mins)
South Africa and Africa | Groundwater for Africa’s resilience and socioeconomic transformation
Karen Villholth | Principal Researcher, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), South Africa
US and North America | Groundwater basin openness as a determinant of sustainability
Graham Fogg | Professor Emeritus of Hydrogeology, University of California, Davis, USA
Denmark and Europe | Groundwater quantity and quality in Europe – introducing an open access digital information platform supporting sustainable groundwater and subsurface resources management
Klaus Hinsby | Senior Research Hydrogeologist, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS)；Chair of the Water Resources Expert Group, EuroGeoSurveys, Denmark
Venezuela and Latin America | Groundwater resources in Latin America
Herve Jegat | Full professor at CIDIAT, Interamerican Center for Environment Research and Development from the University of Los Andes, ULA, Mérida Venezuela
China and Asia | Groundwater management and protection in northern China
Yuanyuan Li | President of IWRA; Vice-President of the General Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Planning and Design, Ministry of Water Resources, China
Australia and Oceania | Challenges for protecting groundwater in areas of resource development: case studies from Australia
Matthew Currell | Professor of Environmental Engineering, RMIT University, Australia
Discussion and Q&A | (25 mins)
Questions from viewers answered by panelists, Q&A between panelists
Hosted by Xin He | China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, China
Concluding Remarks | (5 mins)
Wrapping up the webinar
Alberto Guadagnini | Chair of the Groundwater Committee, IAHR; Professor and Department Head, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Organized and Sponsored by
More Information
1pm UTC | 9pm Beijing | 9am New York, Wednesday, March 30, 2022
How to Participate: No application to be installed. Simply go to the LIVE Page to watch, comment and ask questions.
Registration: No registration needed, but we can keep you updated and reminded. You will receive the reminder before the webinar start 1 week, 1 day and 1 hour ago.
Certificate of Participation: A link will be clickable on the LIVE page during the webinar. Anyone requesting a certificate, issued by IAHR, will have to register their request there.
中国水科院职工学时登记: 登记方式见上一条，登记完请到个人中心的Native Name一栏填写中文姓名，以便工作人员在会后登记学时时能够准确的识别。
Playback: Not able to watch live? Don't worry. The playback video will be available soon after the webinar.
Related Links
