In this World Water Day 2022, the Global International Facility´s (GEF) International Water Learning Exchange and Resource Network published a special bulletin titled The Invisible Giant: Understanding, protecting and managing the Amazon Aquifer System to complete the Amazon puzzle.
This bulletin explores in-depth the interlink between the geological, geomorphic, climatologic, hydrographic and biological processes that occur in the Amazon Region and the “little-known giant lying beneath much of the basin – the Amazon Aquifer System”.
“In this system, the rich Amazon surface drainage network, shared by Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, is strongly and intrinsically connected to transboundary aquifer systems, which are crucial pieces in sustaining the functioning of the Amazon watershed and ecosystems and ensuring its role in the regional and global water and climate cycle, and ecological equilibrium”, it is stated.
The article also explains the importance of an integrating groundwater systems in an integrated management approach. The GEF Amazon project, implemented by UNEP and executed by the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), is an example of this approach based on an agreed Strategic Action Programme (SAP).
“Under the recent Amazon SAP Implementation Project (ACTO/UNEP/GEF), the eight Amazon countries are advancing local level interventions focusing on understanding and managing water supply from groundwater and providing source protection solutions to reduce contamination, in the context of adaptation to climate change.”
To read the full article, access this link
You can also download the text here Article-GEF-Amazonas_Exposure_22-03-2022
