In EGS, The Water Resources Expert Group focuses on the subsurface part of the water cycle, i.e. water in the unsaturated (incl. soil) and saturated (groundwater) zone, and conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water.
Groundwater, present almost everywhere beneath our feet, is by far (99%) the most significant freshwater resource on Earth. As rain falls, groundwater recharges and continuously feeds rivers, lakes, wetlands and coastal waters. Through this process, water solutes, pollutants and particles are continuously transferred from the surface, through the soil, into the deeper subsurface layers that ultimately discharge to surface waters or are abstracted from water supply and irrigation wells. Water migrates through sediment and rock pore spaces, rock fractures, faults in aquifers, and even underground caverns (karst aquifers), potentially polluting valuable groundwater resources and groundwater-dependent or associated ecosystems.
In EGS, The Water Resources Expert Group focuses on the subsurface part of the water cycle, i.e. water in the unsaturated (incl. soil) and saturated (groundwater) zone, and conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water.