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GTK Policy Brief: Geosciences Provide a Foundation for Sustainable Water Management
Climate change and pollution are intensifying global water scarcity, making the responsible management of water resources more critical than ever. Hydrogeology ‒ an essential branch of geoscience ‒ plays a vital role in ensuring safe drinking water, sustainable groundwater use, and responsible industrial water practices.
By integrating hydrogeological expertise into decision-making, we can better address contamination risks, mitigate climate impacts, and meet the growing global demand for clean water.
Sustainable management and protection of water resources relies on a deep understanding of our groundwater systems
Comprehensive geoscientific understanding plays a pivotal role in developing solutions with advanced modelling, innovative monitoring techniques, interdisciplinary research, and capacity building. It ensures sustainable water management whilst addressing natural and anthropogenic contamination risks, climate impacts, and the growing global and industrial demand for clean water. In the extractive industry, responsible water management is also needed to decrease the environmental footprint of the activities.
GTK’s activities focus specifically on:
- Hydrogeological modelling of local and regional groundwater systems to address climate-induced challenges in water supply, recharge, and quality.
- Providing geoscientific expertise in developing management solutions for aquifer systems and tools to increase understanding and prevention of groundwater contamination.
- 3D understanding of hydrogeochemical processes and pathways of natural and anthropogenic contaminants, such as arsenic (As), radon (Rn), PFAS, and microplastics.
Sustainable water management throughout the life cycle of mining projects with comprehensive understanding of long-term behaviour of extractive waste, regional hydro-geological setting, and overall water balance.
Hydrogeological research provides critical data on groundwater recharge, flow, and interactions with surface water, offering actionable insights for sustainable practices in natural and urban environments. This expertise is vital in addressing challenges related to global climate and environmental change.
Enhance water resilience
Expand groundwater research networks to collect data on recharge, flow, and climate impacts, especially in Arctic and sub- Arctic environments, to guide water resource planning in a changing climate.
Prepare for the unexpected
Identify alternative water resources less vulnerable to sudden contamination due to, for example, longer residence times (e.g. bedrock wells).
Integrate hydrogeological expertise
Enhance geological research on surface and groundwater contamination transport and mitigation, including natural and emerging anthropogenic contaminants (such as As, PFAS, micro and nano plastics, process chemicals).
Minimise environmental impacts
Use a holistic approach, geoscience-based understanding, and long-term testing to reduce the environmental footprint of industrial activities on water resources and improve their sustainability.
Improve predictability for decision making
Apply existing geodata and geoscience-based modelling, geophysical methods, and AI-driven approaches to improve industrial water and waste management, site remediation, and decision-making in water safety.
Improve predictability for decision making
Apply existing geodata and geoscience-based modelling, geophysical methods, and AI-driven approaches to improve industrial water and waste management, site remediation, and decision-making in water safety.
Improve predictability for decision making
Apply existing geodata and geoscience-based modelling, geophysical methods, and AI-driven approaches to improve industrial water and waste management, site remediation, and decision-making in water safety.
Collaborate across sectors
Support sustainable groundwater management and responsible mining by capacity building and fostering partnerships between geoscience experts, stakeholders in water management and industrial operations, the authorities, and decision- and policymakers.
Invest in new innovations and capacity building
Strengthen and generate multidisciplinary expertise to develop water sector solutions. National optimisation and water management solutions will support international capacity building actions as well.
The policy brief enables science based decision making. We are happy to discuss further.
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GTK´s Policy Briefs
GTK’s policy briefs are concise presentations based on science, compiling the latest research information in a suitable format for decision-makers and experts.
Sustainable Water Resources
The sufficiency of clean water is one of the key global challenges of the future. The focus of our research is on the sustainable use of groundwater and mining environment research.
