IGRAC - International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre

25/08/2026

🇿🇦 Are you attending the IAH-SA Symposium this week? Meet our Senior Groundwater Specialist Feifei Cao. 👇

💧 A keynote at the official opening on Wednesday and a groundwater level trends presentation on Friday. Find out when and where you can find IGRAC in Stellenbosch: https://un-igrac.org/latest/events/iah-sa-symposium-2026-stellenbosch-south-africa/.

20/08/2026

🇪🇺 Wildfires in Spain, heat records in the UK and rivers reaching historical lows. But Europe's is not the cause but exacerbator of today's problems.

🌾 Particularly non-irrigated agriculture is affected by the current drought.

📉 IGRAC's recent study, analysing 20 years' worth of groundwater monitoring data, shows that most countries facing issues this summer are the same countries with long-term declining groundwater levels.

🔗 https://un-igrac.org/latest/stories/how-the-current-drought-reveals-europes-long-term-groundwater-issues/

Let's explain how the current drought reveals Europe’s long-term groundwater issues. From drying rivers to halting industry or failing crops.

06/08/2026

🇸🇳 In her new field report, our Groundwater Correspondent Mame Diarra Bousso Diouf shows how salinity is affecting coastal communities.

🚰 From the impacts of water access challenges on the lives of two 10-year old girls to the rice farmers who saw their crops affected. This story shows the 3 faces of groundwater in Senegal: Burden, threat, but also hope.

🔗 https://un-igrac.org/latest/stories/the-three-faces-of-groundwater-in-senegal-burden-threat-and-hope/.

27/07/2026

🗞️ Kristel Chanard in Le Monde: “The major strength of this study is that it goes beyond simply measuring groundwater levels to focus on the impacts of climate change and human activities on aquifers.”

💧 IGRAC’s recent study that revealed 20 years of groundwater imbalance, has also been picked up by some mass media. Find out what they say about it!

🔗 https://un-igrac.org/latest/news/igrac-in-the-media-groundwater-level-trends-research-picked-up-by-le-monde/

Daily Maverick

IGRAC’s recent study that revealed 20 years of groundwater imbalance, has also been picked up by some mass media, including Le Monde.

02/07/2026

🇲🇽 From Tenochtitlán to Mexico City. Read how a 'Meso-American Venice' turned into a megacity with mega droughts.

🌽 Surrounded by water and floating vegetable gardens. Reading the old descriptions and seeing the 3D reconstructions, it's hard to imagine that this is the same place where Mexico City is located today. Our Groundwater Correspondent in Mexico Alejandra Partida Vital guides you through this gradual change through history In her story "From Altepetl to Aquifer: Mexico City’s Long Struggle for Water Balance".

🔗 You can read it here: https://un-igrac.org/latest/stories/from-altepetl-to-aquifer-mexico-citys-long-struggle-for-water-balance/.



📸 Cover photo: A 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlán by [credit: Thomas Kole] and Drone photography of today's Mexico City [credit: Andrés Semo]

16/06/2026

🦐 Did you know that there are tiny creatures living in your groundwater? 👇

🇵🇭 In "Who Are the Tiny Creatures Living in Philippine Groundwater and Why Do They Matter?", Groundwater Correspondent Ashemir Velasco takes you to the fascinating underground world of .

🔗 Have a sneak peek into the daily life of stygofauna researchers: https://un-igrac.org/latest/stories/who-are-the-tiny-creatures-living-in-philippine-groundwater-and-why-do-they-matter/.

15/06/2026

🏆 And the winners of the Groundwater Story of Year 2025 Awards are...

🌏 To surprise the winners, we invited them for a video interview about their experiences as Groundwater Correspondent. See their reactions when we ask the final question.. "How does it feel to win the award?"

🔗 For links to all the stories and jury reports for all nominees, visit our website: https://un-igrac.org/latest/news/these-are-the-winners-of-the-groundwater-story-of-the-year-award-2025/.

A big round of applause to all our nominees:
🇧🇴 Mónica X. Guzmán Rojo | | "Communicating Groundwater Science through Bolivia’s Legend of Gueebi, the Son of Rain"
🇨🇦 Reginald Somera | | "Hidden Beneath: The Groundwater Challenge in Canada’s Water Policy"
🇫🇷 Mélanie Erostate | | "Crucial Warnings from Corsica’s Fragile Wetlands"
🇮🇳 Jayesh Desai | | "Commons or Commerce: Who Owns Groundwater in Villages of Kalimpong, India?"
🇪🇸 Alberto Román Gessa Fernández | | "Chronicle of a Foretold Groundwater Crisis in Doñana"

🤝 Special thanks to the jury members!
Daniel Zamrsky (IHE Delft Institute for Water Education), Marie-Amélie PÉTRÉ, Ph.D. (BRGM), Robert Strand (World Water Film Festival), Sara Vite (Football for Peace) and Zoubida NEMER (2024 Jury Award Winner and Former Algeria Correspondent)

12/06/2026

You can still register for next week's webinar "Groundwater matters for cooperation and in multilateral processes", with our Director Elisabeth Lictevout.

📅 17 June | 14:00–15:30 CEST

🔗 Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OVfRcTNsR061NrEqAMPAzw #/registration

11/06/2026

🗞️ Search for groundwater correspondents, call for MAR Portal submissions and an interesting groundwater flooding story in Florida.

🔗 https://igrac.substack.com/p/the-underground-update-vol15-june

Search for groundwater correspondents, call for MAR Portal submissions and an interesting groundwater flooding story in Florida.

08/06/2026

🇺🇸 Saline intrusion or groundwater flooding? Florida is facing this "Sophie’s Choice" and our US Groundwater Correspondent Jesse Ferraioli explains why.

🌧️ Florida is the leading state in the United States for flood-related financial loss. However, contrary to what you may think, Florida’s flood risk is not only a matter of increasing storm intensity, sea-level rise and low-lying topography. In this story, Jesse looks at the tradeoffs shaping Florida's groundwater levels and water future.

🔗 Read her story here: https://un-igrac.org/latest/stories/sophies-choice-between-saline-intrusion-and-groundwater-flooding-in-florida/.