UN publishes worrisome report on India's depleting groundwater reservoirs

A new report by the United Nations University warns that India is rapidly approaching a critical groundwater depletion tipping point, with 27 of the world's 31 major aquifers depleting faster than they can be replenished. The Indian Express explains how this depletion poses a severe risk to agriculture and food production, as groundwater is essential for sustaining crops, and over 70% of global withdrawals are used for agriculture. Caliber.Az reprints this article.

"India is close to reaching its groundwater depletion tipping point, a new report published by United Nations University — Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) — has warned.

The report ‘Interconnected Disaster Risks Report 2023’, which looks at six environmental tipping points — accelerating extinctions, groundwater depletion, mountain glacier melting, space debris, unbearable heat and an uninsurable future — has also found that 27 of the world’s 31 major aquifers are depleting faster than they can be replenished.

According to the report, 78% 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.

Environmental tipping points are critical thresholds in the Earth’s systems beyond which abrupt and often irreversible changes occur, leading to profound and sometimes catastrophic shifts in ecosystems, climate patterns and the overall environment, the report states.

Groundwater is an essential freshwater resource stored in underground reservoirs called 'aquifers'. 'These aquifers supply drinking water to over two billion people, and around 70% of withdrawals are used for agriculture. However, more than half of the world’s major aquifers are being depleted faster than they can be naturally replenished. As groundwater accumulates over thousands of years, it is essentially a non-renewable resource', the report said.

The tipping point in this case is reached when the water table falls below a level that existing wells can access. Once crossed, farmers will no longer have access to groundwater to irrigate their crops. 'This not only puts farmers at risk of losing their livelihood, but can also lead to food insecurity and put entire food production systems at risk of failure', it added.

Around 30% of the world’s fresh water is stored as groundwater and occasionally brought to the surface through springs, lakes or streams, or is extracted from wells drilled into the aquifer.

Groundwater depletion rates worldwide have accelerated since the mid-20th century, the report said, to the extent that 'groundwater is a non-trivial contributor to sea level rise'.

'The excessive pumping of groundwater has also caused the Earth’s axis to tilt 4.36 cm per year. The regions where groundwater depletion is most severe include parts of India, north-eastern China, western United States, Mexico, Iran, Saudi Arabia and parts of northern Africa,’ it said.

'Some regions, like Saudi Arabia, have already surpassed this groundwater risk tipping point… Other countries, like India, are not far from approaching this risk tipping point, too,’ it added.

Agricultural intensification is a major factor pushing us towards a groundwater depletion risk tipping point with groundwater irrigation sustaining the production of approximately 40 per cent of the world’s crops, including a large portion of staple crops like rice and wheat.

Access to groundwater has driven the expansion of irrigated agricultural land worldwide. The 20th century alone has seen a dramatic increase, from 63 million hectares in 1900 to 306 million hectares in 2005.

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% of the country’s rice supply and 85% of its wheat stocks. However, 78% 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', it said.

A strong relationship between groundwater and international food supply chains is also driving groundwater depletion. Many of the products grown in countries that overdraft their groundwater resources are sold and consumed in places far away. For instance, the USA exports 42% of its crops grown from depleted groundwater, mostly corn, to other places like Mexico, China and Japan".