118-2 Groundwater Buffer Enhances Water and Food Security during Climate Extremes

Session: Groundwater in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

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Increasing climate extremes (droughts and floods) result in growing spatiotemporal disconnects between water supply and demand, making it increasingly difficult to achieve sustainable development goals linked to poverty, hunger, and water. Here we show spatiotemporal variability in water storage globally using satellites, modeling, and monitoring data, emphasizing the role of groundwater in enhancing water and food security. GRACE satellite data show varying total water storage trends globally: declining in the Middle East and N Africa, N India, SW US and NE Brazil and rising trends in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, parts of Peninsular India, and E US. Global models reveal similar trends, highlighting the importance of climate variability, land use, and irrigation on water storage. These data reveal areas where groundwater use could be expanded to increase water and food security, such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Approaches towards more sustainable management of water resources include conjunctive management of surface water and groundwater and managed aquifer recharge to address increasing floods and droughts. Groundwater will play an increasingly important role for water and food security in the future but will need to be managed appropriately to ensure long-term sustainability.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-7495

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