April, 2022
Weekly Wave,
vol.
10,
no.
12,
Water Resources Research Center,
Tucson, AZ,
April, 2022
In Part I of this two-part Reflections, I discussed how World Water Day is celebrated each year on March 22. The 2022 World Water Development Report (WWDR), Groundwater, Making the Invisible Visible, was released by the United Nations the day before this year’s celebration. The report is an almost 250-page document on everything groundwater. Though I had the opportunity to contribute to Chapter 8’s discussion of groundwater in North America, I did not see the document until its release. As noted in the Preface by M. Miletto and R. Connor:
This latest WWDR is particularly unique: it is the first time that our report has focused on a specific element of the global water cycle – in this case, groundwater. In other words, the topic (or theme) of this year’s report is more than just an angle or perspective through which to explore the role of water across various social, economic and environmental goals and objectives, it is about the resource itself. And more importantly, it concerns a critical freshwater resource that has remained ‘under the radar’ for far too long.
This comprehensive volume will surely serve as an excellent reference on groundwater for some time. I highly recommend that people download it and keep it on their electronic bookshelves!