Groundwater – the unseen ace in the pack of water resilience

By Mark Smith

Water scarcity, pollution and floods are water risks that propagate through societies, affecting our health, food, energy and economies. Managing water risks can deliver resilience across all these systems, and groundwater is the unseen ace in the pack.

Groundwater is water that collects beneath the Earth’s surface. It is a critical natural resource that supports food security. It also helps sustain cities and public health, nurtures ecosystems, strengthens climate resilience and helps protect livelihoods.

The underrated resource

Despite its importance, groundwater is less visible than surface water in global policy discussions, investment decisions and implementation efforts, especially when considering the linkage to agriculture. Millions of farmers depend on groundwater irrigation to help produce 40 per cent of the world’s crop. Yet, in many regions, aquifers are being polluted or depleted faster than they can recover.

Consequently, water stress — where the demand for freshwater continues to exceed available supply — remains severe in several regions, with the global average holding at 18 per cent in 2023. That average marks stark disparities. In Northern Africa, Western Asia and Southern and Central Asia, water stress exceeds 75 per cent, and around 10 per cent of the global population live in countries with high or critical stress levels. National averages also hide significant local disparities, meaning that data at local level are essential for identifying hidden vulnerabilities and ensuring that interventions reach the places that need them most.

SDG 6: mixed results

At the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development held in New York/USA from the 7^th to the 15^th July, 2026, 36 countries presented their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), highlighting actions they have taken to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As the deadline to achieve the SDGs is fast approaching, this year’s forum conducted in-depth reviews of five goals, including SDG 6, making water a central theme for discussions. Countries are making progress, yet gains on water use efficiency and water governance remain uneven and insufficient.

Managing groundwater sustainably for water resilience

Unlike surface water such as rivers and lakes which can dry up or overflow during extreme weather, groundwater acts as a buffer with strategic storage value. When managed sustainably, at global level, groundwater can buffer a third of the losses in economic growth caused by droughts and reduce up to half of the losses in agricultural productivity caused by rainfall variability.

Targeting investment through groundwater monitoring

At the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), we work with governments and partners to install groundwater monitoring networks that can track groundwater levels and quality.

In Punjab, Pakistan, for example, IWMI is mapping groundwater information systems, helping the government identify where groundwater is over-abstracted, where pollution risks may arise and where managed aquifer recharge has the greatest potential. This evidence helps target investment where it is needed most. It also helps integrate groundwater into broader water resources planning, showing how its storage interacts seasonally with surface water and other sources and where managed aquifer recharge can be used to bolster groundwater and resilience.

Enhancing the potential of shared aquifers

Across Benin, Malawi, Mozambique, Togo and Uganda, IWMI and partners are investigating groundwater availability across key aquifers, including those shared between countries. This work measures local groundwater recharge rates against basic domestic daily requirements to identify where groundwater can provide a viable and sustainable drinking water opportunity. Insights from this initiative showed that 94 million people currently live in areas where groundwater could be used sustainably for drinking water. The analysis also showed that around 333 million Africans live in areas where groundwater could be sustainably used to irrigate crops without seriously depleting aquifers. This evidence is helping countries better understand where groundwater can strengthen both domestic water security and food production while supporting coordinated planning across shared aquifers.

Local communities help set the rules for fair use

Groundwater should be managed alongside surface water as one connected system, so that neither gets overused. The key insight from IWMI’s work is knowing which mix of water storage to draw on, and when. The sustainable management of groundwater also works best when local communities including farmers are consulted and help set the rules for using the resource fairly.

It won’t work without international cooperation

Groundwater is not yet an important topic for governments when measured by commitment or finance. Underinvestment is driving lack of progress, and countries are failing to create an enabling environment for private sector investment.

Countries can ensure clean water and sanitation and make progress on SDG 6 by integrating groundwater within existing water, climate, food and development frameworks. International cooperation is required to make groundwater visible in global processes, and the UN Water Conference 2026 offers a key opportunity. We have seen the value of this kind of cooperation firsthand, working with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in raising issues of groundwater resilience in the run-up to the UN Water Conference. 

Better data and stronger institutions needed

Policymakers should recognise how robust groundwater management and governance systems can help balance competing water demands. As access to water data and analytics improves, groundwater data must be included in the way countries plan and manage water resources. Better groundwater data can make this often-hidden but critical resource more visible, helping decision-makers understand where groundwater is available, how it is being used and how it interacts with rivers, reservoirs and other water sources.

New tools, including AI-enabled digital twins for basin management, can support this shift by integrating groundwater into wider water planning. However, to make coordinated decisions around groundwater and surface water, countries need strong institutions, supportive policies and clear legal frameworks.

By combining data, technology and governance, countries can turn groundwater from a hidden resource into the ace that strengthens water resilience, guides investment and accelerates progress on SDG 6.

This article first appeared on the website of the International Water Management Institute.

More information:

• Worldbank: The Hidden Wealth of Nations: Groundwater in Times of Climate Change
• Worldbank: The economics of groundwater in times of climate change: The hidden wealth of nations (pdf file)
• IWMI: The platform that wants to save Pakistan’s groundwater
• IWMI: Groundwater is Africa’s hidden lifeline, but real-world data is lacking