IGRAC contributes to 'AWRA Impact' issue on MAR

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IGRAC has contributed to the September issue of 'Water Resources Impact', a publication of the American Water Resources Association (AWRA). In this issue on Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR), an article by Nienke Ansems was featured on 'Managed Aquifer Recharge: A Global Perspective'. In this article, Ansems shares her view on how the global acceptance of MAR can be improved so that it becomes fully adopted as an integral component of sustainable water management strategies. 

Increasing global acceptance of MAR

As pressures on freshwater resources increase globally as a result of growing water demands, urbanization, increased food production and the necessity to preserve ecosystems, MAR is expected to be increasingly relied upon. Given that MAR can provide more effective, sustainable and cost-efficient freshwater management solutions as compared to aboveground solutions, such as construction of surface water dams or saltwater desalination, one may wonder why it is not yet implemented at a much larger scale. MAR is still relatively unknown, and decision-makers may wrongly perceive it as costly and potentially complicated. So how can we improve the global acceptance of MAR?

The following five steps were suggested in the article:

  1. Increase awareness on the benefits of MAR amongst decision-makers and water resource managers;
  2. Improve access to information on MAR demonstration projects, like the global MAR inventory available in the MAR portal
  3. Develop regional MAR suitability maps;
  4. Showcase the economic performance of MAR;
  5. Provide guidance via policies and regulatory frameworks.

AWRA IMPACT

For the full Semtember issue of AWRA's IMPACT, including IGRAC article, please click here.