1. Global Groundwater Monitoring Network
International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre
Global Groundwater Monitoring
Network
- Session on “data for all” at World Water Forum 5 -
Sophie Vermooten
Istanbul, March 2009

2. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
What is IGRAC?
IGRAC is non-profit centre that facilitates and promotes global sharing of information and knowledge required for sustainable groundwater resources development and management.
Launched at WWF3 in Kyoto in Spring 2003
Works under auspices of UNESCO and WMO
Receives financial support from the government of The Netherlands
Hosted by Deltares in The Netherlands.
Current practices and experience
United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
World Meteorological
Organization
Government of
The Netherlands
Deltares

3. What is the Global Groundwater Monitoring Network?
Currently No systematic monitoring and assessment of groundwater change on global scale.
IGRAC is setting up a sustainable Global Groundwater Monitoring Network (GGMN) for a periodic assessment of the global change of groundwater resources to assess trends and identify highly stressed aquifers for example.
Scale of 1 by 1 degree; Resolution of data chosen based on the fact that data is easier exchangeable with remote sensing data and complementary to other gridded global data sets like GPCC for example
(data shown is fictitious)

4. 3 important steps
Setting up a people network of national experts committed to provide groundwater related data
Web-based application for collection, processing, storage and dissemination of groundwater monitoring information
Choice of adequate groundwater variables, both observed and derived in collaboration with end-users (scientists, international agencies, policy/decision makers and financial institutions).
1) Setting up a people network of national experts committed to provide groundwater related data. Use existing networks as much as possible. People network, regional specialists should deliver aggregated groundwater information. This step is the main challenge of GGMN project. Incentives are important to encourage the participation of national experts. (for example, capacity building, workshops, software)
2) Web-based application for collection, processing, storage and dissemination of groundwater monitoring information. User friendly, self-explanatory and interactive software available through internet only needing an average internet connection. Offline version also available for countries with very poor internet facilities.
3) Choice of adequate groundwater variables, both observed and derived in collaboration with end-users (scientists, international agencies, policy/decision makers and financial institutions. The gw variables should be reported by the members of the people network making use of the web-based application
Needs:
Scientists: calibrate, verify global /regional assessmemnts based on remote sensing and/or hydrological models
International agencies: global water resources assessments (like WWDR3?)
Financial institutions: need derived information on the current status of gw resources worldwide for the prioritization of funding related to water projects.

5. 3 important remarks
Taking into account obstacles related to international exchange of data and the limited representativeness of point measurements, IGRAC chooses to collect aggregated data and proxy data instead of raw data
2) Paradox: End-user of product is different from the expert reporting the groundwater situation of his/her country.
3) Indicators are often defined without taking into account the lack of basic data to calculate them. Availability of data should be used as important criteria for the definition of indicators.
1) Taking into account obstacles related to international exchange of data and the limited representativeness of point measurements, we choose to collect aggregated data and proxy data instead of raw data. Use the countries expert to assess the status of groundwater in a cell of 100 km. Why aggregated information?
As opposed to surface water data, for groundwater, there is a limited representativeness of point measurements (Aggregation using the expert knowledge and proxy values)
Try to overcome one of the obstacles related to international exchange of data (aggregated value is derived information and not raw data). Current data repositories range from paper archives to advanced quality controlled databases.
2) Paradox: End-user of product is different from the expert reporting the groundwater situation in his/her country. Global scale assessment is not directly relevant to the data deliverer except for very large countries. Resolution of 1 degree is too large to be of direct use to the country expert except for large countries. Reporting their national gw situation can however reveal the good or poor status of aquifers whether they are highly stressed or underexploited therefore attracting funding to mitigate gw problems or develop unexploited gw resources.
3) Indicators are often defined without taking into account the lack of basic data to calculate them. Availability of data should be used as important criteria for definition of indicators.