Assessment of groundwater systems in SIDS

Description

The relative fragility of the hydrological cycles on Small Island Developing States means that the evaluation, planning and development of freshwater resources has to be approached with special care to work within these hydro-environmental limits. The prevention of saline intrusion is a case in point: small changes in freshwater table elevations from excessive abstraction can lead to wholesale upcoming of saline water into coastal aquifers and freshwater lenses, effectively removing large sections of aquifers from the available water resource base.

The International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP) is currently leading assessments of groundwater systems in SIDS around the world, based on a set of hydrogeological, biophysical, socio-economic and institutional indicators in 43 SIDS and territories, within the framework of the Goundwater in SIDS project of the Transboundary Waters Assessment Programme.