Global demand for fresh water doubles every 20 years according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation. As industrial, agricultural and domestic pollution threaten surface water supplies, groundwater is becoming an increasingly precious resource. Across the world today, renewable water resources available per person are roughly half of what they were in 1960. This figure is expected to drop by half again by the year 2025, according to estimates of the World Bank. Clearly, if water resources are not better managed, they could be an impediment to economic growth as well as a potential danger to human health and the environment.
Elements consist of atoms of different mass called isotopes.
As a result, these isotopes are powerful tracers that are naturally present and can be used for tracing the source, movement and pollution of groundwater. Isotopes help manage groundwaterGroundwater is heavily utilised by densely populated communities in the Nile Valley in Egypt and Sudan. But its availability and sustainability in supplying the needs of growing populations are a problem. An IAEA Isotope Hydrology-assisted investigation, through the Technical Cooperation Programme, focused on clarifying the role of the Nile River in the replenishment of the local groundwater aquifers being exploited for domestic and agricultural purposes. Using oxygen, hydrogen and carbon isotopes, it was possible to distinguish between fresh water originating from Nile River infiltration and paleowater representing a non-renewable resource.