Groundwater is world's most important, best protected and most exploited freshwater resource. It is intensively used by man; it is the prime source for drinking water supply and irrigation, hence critical to global food security. But also for sustaining low flow requirements and ecological values of groundwater dependent ecosystems, the contribution by groundwater flow is essential. Groundwater therefore needs to be managed wisely, protected and especially sustainably used. These requirements are also expressed in major regulatory initiatives such as the European Water Framework Directive. In itself this is a challenge, however under a changing environment, climate, land use, population growth, etc., this task becomes a challenge especially in the light of limited data availability and consequential uncertainties. From arid over humid to arctic regions, in every type of climate changing environmental conditions become apparent and have very different effects.
In this session we invite contributions, which report on research on the consequences of a changing environment for future management, protection, and sustainable use of groundwater. Methodologies, strategies, case studies as well as quantitative techniques for dealing with uncertainty and limited data availability are of interest for this session. We welcome studies describing how groundwater resources benefit from an Integrated Water Resources Management approach. Furthermore, contributions describing case studies and new techniques for active management and protection of groundwater resources such as artificial recharge and conjunctive use are welcome.

Dr. Makoto Taniguchi will provide a keynote presentation on 'Groundwater-energy-food nexus for sustainability'.