India, The World¡¯s Largest User Of Groundwater, Heading Towards Depletion Tipping Point: UN Report

Over-exploitation of groundwater has been a growing concern for countries around the world. As the human population continues to grow, every passing day, more and more groundwater is drawn out to meet the needs without allowing it to be replenished.

This has resulted in the groundwater levels dropping to alarming levels in many places.

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Why groundwater is important?

According to the United Nations, groundwater stored in underground reservoirs called "aquifers" supply drinking water to over 2 billion people and around 70 per cent of withdrawals are used for agriculture.

However, 21 out of 37 of the world's major aquifers are being depleted faster than they can be replenished. The water stored in aquifers often has accumulated over thousands of years and would equally take thousands of years to fully recharge, making it essentially a non-renewable resource. In these at-risk aquifers, lives and livelihoods are put on the line as the water level drops further and further out of reach.

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What are the major risk tipping points?

A new research published by the United Nations University ¨C Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) has said that groundwater depletion is one of the six major risk tipping points the world will be facing in the coming years.

• Accelerating extinctions that trigger a chain reaction to ecosystem collapse
• Groundwater depletion that drains water risking food supply
• Mountain glaciers melting
• Space debris causing loss of multiple satellites, "our eyes in the sky"
• Unbearable heat making it hard to live in some areas
• Uninsurable future when rising risks make homes unaffordable

When does groundwater depletion reach tipping point?

According to the study, a risk tipping point is reached when the systems we rely on for our lives and societies cannot buffer risks and stop functioning as expected.

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It said that a strong relationship between groundwater and global food production means that local problems can quickly have far-reaching consequences.

Groundwater depletion will reach a tipping point when the water table in a given aquifer drops consistently below the well depth, and access to groundwater will become problematic, increasing the risk of farmers being unable to irrigate their crops.

How India will be affected

Among the countries that are likely to be the worst affected by groundwater depletion is India.

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"India is the world's largest user of groundwater, exceeding the use of the United States and China combined. The north-western region of India serves as the breadbasket for the nation's growing 1.4 billion people, with the states of Punjab and Haryana producing 50 per cent of the country's rice supply and 85 per cent of its wheat stocks.

However, 78 per cent of wells in Punjab are considered overexploited, and the north-western region as a whole is predicted to experience critically low groundwater availability by 2025," the report noted.

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"As we approach these tipping points, we will already begin to experience the impacts. Once crossed, it will be difficult to go back. Our report can help us see risks ahead of us, the causes behind them and the urgent changes required to avoid them," Jack O'Connor, the lead author and senior expert at UNU-EHS said.

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