COLOMBO, SRI LANKA – Mismanagement of groundwater threatens our drinking water, food production, and climate change adaptation prospects, warns a statement endorsed by the International Water Management Institute’s (IWMI) and signed by 700+ global experts.
The call to action highlighted in Nature this week cites recent scientific breakthroughs on groundwater’s vital role in supporting rivers globally. It supplies more than 40 percent of the water used for the world’s agricultural irrigation, drinking water to two billion people, and helps regions cope with worsening droughts. Millions of low income smallholder farmers, in particular, rely on groundwater in arid and semi-arid areas and during times of drought, making it one of nature’s best solutions to beat climate variability.
Groundwater makes up 99 percent of the Earth’s liquid freshwater. But in many places, warn the experts, groundwater is under threat from overexploitation and contamination, mostly due to poor understanding, land use planning, and management.
Population pressure and increasing water competition in a changing climate require us to take stock of the availability and use of water across scales. Water availability not only influences farmers’ commercial prospects but also irrigation-related enterprises and agri-businesses. Greater water scarcity could jeopardize irrigation and agricultural markets while excessive water use can lead to declining ecosystems, water quality and soil health. IWMI advises development partners and the public and private sectors on all aspects of water resource availability and use through a variety of advanced modeling and remote-sensing products and tools, including 
The ability of farmers to engage in or expand irrigation depends on the prevailing socioeconomic, ecological and political contexts, which are often complex, non-linear and changeable. Overcoming systemic barriers to farmer-led irrigation development while taking advantage of existing opportunities 
A lack of affordable credit, particularly for women and resource-poor farmers, is one of the main barriers to expanding farmer-led irrigation in low- and middle-income countries. But 
Scaling farmer-led irrigation requires strengthening human capacity and knowledge exchange among all actors and stakeholders involved. IWMI takes an action research approach, working with national and international research institutions, governments, extension agents and public and private organizations to co-develop the scaling ecosystem and strengthen capacity to drive scaling networks and collective action. We support the
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