Global groundwater science and sustainability

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The goal of this NSERC Discovery Grant is examining important fundamental and applied problems concerning large-scale groundwater systems that have emerged in the geoscience and engineering communities such as the sustainability of groundwater use and unresolved connections between groundwater and other Earth systems such as the climate and oceans. My long-term research objective is to examine fundamental hydrogeological processes at multiple scales as well as the interactions between groundwater, Earth processes and society to enable sustainable groundwater use. The objective of this grant is to test five exciting hypotheses:1) groundwater interactions with other Earth systems such as the climate and oceans cluster spatially and critical transitions in groundwater-surface water systems can be predicted;2) global groundwater model performance is within the uncertainty of observations and models can estimate the planetary boundary for groundwater use;3) global permeability mapping can be improved with data from fault zones and greater depths;4) the risk of groundwater contamination can be evaluated globally; and5) renewable energy is a potential economic alternative for unsustainable groundwater use.The hypotheses are exciting since they will help resolve the connections between groundwater and other Earth systems as well as make tangible steps towards groundwater sustainability.This research is in the emerging field of mega-scale hydrogeology' that examines groundwater systems at regional (10's km) to continental (1000's km) scales. The field is poised to make significant breakthroughs and impact as groundwater processes are integrated into more regional to global models over the next five years. I propose an ambitious and diverse research program with exceptional HQP training that will hopefully position me to become an international leader within this field.These studies have significant impact on current national and international concerns such as water security, ecosystem services and renewable energy production. This research program directly contributes to national research priorities of sustainable management of groundwater and low-emission energy systems as well as international priorities such as the UN Sustainable Development Goal for protecting water-related ecosystems. These studies will also significantly impact the geosciences by 1) highlighting where groundwater is important to other Earth systems and improving the next generation of Earth system models and 2) evaluating the ecological limits of groundwater use and how these could be maintained through renewable energy generation. Strategically, this research program will enhance Canada's profile in this critical field of mega-scale groundwater systems, especially as water resources emerge as a significant global concern and part of global Earth system models for the first time.