Aquifers are major groundwater basins with recharge of >2 mm/yr in the global inventory of groundwater resources. At the bottom of this figure, the areas of the six aquifers (Western Mexico, High Plains, North Arabian, Persian, Upper Ganges and North China plain) are shown at the same scale as the global map; the surrounding grey areas indicate the groundwater footprint proportionally at the same scale. The ratio GF/AA indicates widespread stress of groundwater resources and/or groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Inset, histogram showing that GF is less than AA for most aquifers. Gleeson, et al., 2012

Aquifers are major groundwater basins with recharge of >2 mm yr−1 in the global inventory of groundwater resources20 (see Supplementary Information). At the bottom of this figure, the areas of the six aquifers (Western Mexico, High Plains, North Arabian, Persian, Upper Ganges and North China plain) are shown at the same scale as the global map; the surrounding grey areas indicate the groundwater footprint proportionally at the same scale. The ratio GF/AA indicates widespread stress of groundwater resources and/or groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Inset, histogram showing that GF is less than AA for most aquifers. Gleeson, et al., 2012 ABSTRACT: Groundwater is a life-sustaining resource that supplies water to billions of people, plays a central part in irrigated agriculture and influences the health of many ecosystems1, 2. Most assessments of global water resources have focused on surface water3, 4, 5, 6, but unsustainable depletion of groundwater has recently been documented on both regional7, 8 and global scales9, 10, 11. It remains unclear how the rate of global groundwater depletion compares to the rate of natural renewal and the supply needed to support ecosystems. Here we define the groundwater footprint (the area required to sustain groundwater use and groundwater-dependent ecosystem services) and show that humans are overexploiting groundwater in many large aquifers that are critical to agriculture, especially in Asia and North America. We estimate that the size of the global groundwater footprint is currently about 3.5 times the actual area of aquifers and that about 1.7 billion people live in areas where groundwater resources and/or groundwater-dependent ecosystems are under threat. That said, 80 per cent of aquifers have a groundwater footprint that is less than their area, meaning that the net global value is driven by a few heavily overexploited aquifers. The groundwater footprint is the first tool suitable for consistently evaluating the use, renewal and ecosystem requirements of groundwater at an aquifer scale. It can be combined with the water footprint and virtual water calculations12, 13, 14, and be used to assess the potential for increasing agricultural yields with renewable groundwaterref15. The method could be modified to evaluate other resources with renewal rates that are slow and spatially heterogeneous, such as fisheries, forestry or soil.

Water balance of global aquifers revealed by groundwater footprint