RESources in Coastal groundwater Under hydroclimatic Extremes (RESCUE)

地下水是一种关键资源，占国内用水总量的50%，全球灌溉用水总量的25%。然而，尽管地下水发挥着至关重要的作用，但地下大部分地区仍未勘探地下水资源，我们主要使用浅层陆上含水层，限制了我们对深层地下水潜力的了解和了解。最近的研究估计，这些更深的近海含水层中的水量是20世纪从地球地下开采的水量的100倍。在持续的水危机背景下，联合国强调开发深水、陆上和近海淡水以及其他非常规水资源的重要性，以发展缺水社区对气候变化的适应能力。然而，到目前为止，欧洲对深海和近海资源的勘探很少或根本没有。阻碍利用这一新水源的主要挑战是缺乏知识。救援项目旨在通过数据收集、实验和建模来更好地了解深海和近海淡水含水层，从而弥合这一差距。我们还将评估开采这些含水层在财务上是否可行，制定使用和管理准则，并向主要利益攸关方传播有关这些含水层的信息。这将使地方和区域决策者能够为考虑和使用这些新资源奠定基础。深海和近海地下水的可持续利用最终将有助于确保在极端水文气候时期向人口和工业提供稳定的水。

Groundwater is a critical resource providing 50% of all water used domestically and 25% of all water used for irrigation worldwide. However, despite the crucial role of groundwater, most of the subsurface remains unexplored for groundwater resources and we primarily use shallow onshore aquifers, limiting our knowledge and understanding of the potential for deeper groundwater. Recent research estimates that the volume of water in such deeper offshore aquifers is one hundred times greater than the amount extracted from the Earth's subsurface in the 20th century. In the context of ongoing water crises, the UN has placed emphasis on the importance of exploring for deep-onshore and offshore freshwater, among other unconventional water resources, to develop resilience of water-scarce communities against climate change. However, to date, there has been little or no exploration of deep-coastal and offshore resources in Europe. The primary challenge hindering the utilization of this new water source is the lack of knowledge. The RESCUE project aims to bridge this gap by building better understanding of deep-coastal and offshore freshwater aquifers through data collection, experiments, and modelling. We will also evaluate if these aquifers are financially viable to exploit, produce guidelines for their use and regulation, and disseminate information to key stakeholders about them. This will enable local and regional policy makers to lay the foundations for the consideration and use of these new resources. The sustainable use of deep-coastal and offshore groundwater will ultimately help secure a steady supply of water to both population and industry, in times of hydroclimatic extremes.