The Andalusian city of Malaga hosted around 700 hydrogeologists during the 46th congress of International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH), on 23-27 September 2019. The programme of the congress was rich and diverse and the organisation (by the University of Malaga) excellent. IGRAC was very pleased to contribute to both: the content of the congress and its organisation as a scientific partner.
A side-event ‘Groundwater quality from a global perspective’ took place during the Groundwater Quality conference 2019 (September 8-12, Liege, Belgium). The event was organised to inform conference participants on various global groundwater quality activities, to provide a floor for discussion beyond cocoons and to encourage collaboration across the scales and borders.
AMCOW (African Minister’s Council on Water) organised an Experts and Stakeholders’ workshop (Nairobi, 1-2 October 2019) on development of the Pan-African Groundwater Program (APAGroP) as a platform for all groundwater stakeholders in Africa. The concept of the APAGroP was presented along the major current groundwater activities across the continent, followed by fruitful discussion about program’s modalities and priorities. IGRAC actively contributed to the workshop.
Groundwater quality is an important component of overall freshwater quality worldwide. The quality affects the lives, livelihoods and individual development opportunities of around at least 3 billion people globally consuming groundwater. High quality groundwater is important for drinking water supply, irrigation and industrial processes. Ecosystems and the environment in general also depend on an adequate quality of groundwater. Furthermore, unsuitable or impaired groundwater quality can restrict economic development opportunities.
