Themes and subthemes

Themes and subthemes

Congress themes and call for technical session proposals

Theme 1

Transboundary aquifers and hydro-diplomacy

Focus: International cooperation and shared groundwater resources.

1. Delineation and characterization of transboundary aquifers: Aquifer boundary identification, hydrostratigraphic correlation, conceptual hydrogeological models, groundwater flow systems, shared aquifer inventories.
2. International groundwater law and governance: International water law, transboundary aquifer agreements, institutional arrangements, governance frameworks, legal instruments.
3. Joint monitoring and data sharing: Binational monitoring networks, harmonized monitoring protocols, shared databases, groundwater information systems, open data platforms.
4. Science diplomacy and trust building: Transboundary cooperation, science diplomacy, international negotiations, confidence-building across borders, hydro-diplomacy.
5. Regional experiences and lessons learned: Case studies from North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia.
6. Water security, migration, and regional stability: Groundwater and human security, water scarcity and migration, conflict prevention, socio-environmental vulnerability, resilience in arid and semi-arid regions.

Theme 2

Groundwater resources, security and climate resilience

Focus: Groundwater systems, resources, and adaptation to global change.

1. Groundwater recharge and climate variability: Recharge estimation, climate impacts on recharge, extreme events, recharge modelling, paleohydrology, managed aquifer recharge (MAR), the relationship between recharge and groundwater flow system (GFS).
2. Groundwater as a climate adaptation resource: Drought management, emergency water supplies, climate adaptation planning, ENSO signals in groundwater.
3. Groundwater-surface water interactions: Stream depletion, river-aquifer exchanges, lake-aquifer exchanges, hyporheic processes, conjunctive water management, catchment hydrology.
4. Deep and strategic groundwater resources: Deep aquifers, fossil groundwater, geothermal groundwater systems, offshore groundwater, unconventional resources, geothermal resource assessment.
5. Groundwater security, food security and human mobility: Agricultural resilience, migration, climate displacement, water security, socio-hydrology, human-water interactions.
6. Sustainable groundwater development: Safe yield, abstraction thresholds, groundwater storage, resilience assessment, sustainability indicators.
7. Mountain hydrogeology and headwater systems: Mountain aquifers, alpine hydrogeology, snowmelt recharge, groundwater-fed streams, high-altitude groundwater systems, Mountain Front Recharge (MFR) and Mountain Block Recharge (MBR).
8. Groundwater resources assessment and regional hydrogeology: Aquifer mapping, groundwater balances, regional flow systems, groundwater inventories, groundwater resource evaluation, coastal aquifers, seawater intrusion, flows between basins.
9. Groundwater and urban resilience: Urban groundwater systems, megacities, land subsidence, groundwater and urban water security, integrated urban water management.

Theme 3

Groundwater characterization, monitoring and decision support

Focus: Methods, tools, and scientific understanding.

1. Groundwater networks and observation systems: Monitoring networks, telemetry, real-time monitoring, smart sensors, groundwater observatories, Internet of Things (IoT), digital monitoring platforms.
2. Hydrogeological investigation methods: Pumping tests, slug tests, tracer tests, borehole logging, hydraulic characterization, monitoring network design.
3. Hydrogeochemistry, isotopes and environmental tracers: Water-rock interaction, recharge sources, groundwater age dating, isotope hydrology, contaminant tracing, geochemical models, mineral and thermal waters.
4. Hydrogeophysics and subsurface characterization: D.C. methods, , airborne geophysics, seismic methods, electromagnetic methods, marine geophysics.
5. Karst systems and carbonate aquifers: Karst hydrogeology, conduit flow, cave systems, karst springs, vulnerability mapping, groundwater protection in karst terrains.
6. Fractured rock hydrogeology: Crystalline aquifers, fracture networks, flow and transport in fractured media.
7. Groundwater modelling and uncertainty analysis: Flow and transport modelling, stochastic methods, uncertainty quantification, calibration and scenario analysis.
8. Remote sensing and earth observation: GRACE, InSAR, satellite hydrology, land subsidence monitoring, aquifer depletion assessment.
9. Decision support systems and risk assessment: Early warning systems, groundwater dashboards, risk-based management and policy support tools.
10. Participatory and co-designed modelling: Stakeholder engagement, collaborative modelling, socio-hydrological modelling, decision-making under uncertainty.

Theme 4

Groundwater quality, contamination and remediation

Focus: Protecting groundwater resources and human health.

1. Geogenic contamination: Arsenic, fluoride, boron, salinity, radionuclides, trace elements and salinization processes.
2. Agricultural sources of pollution: Nitrate contamination, sulphate pollution, pesticides, nutrient loading, irrigation return flows.
3. Industrial, urban and mining impacts: Heavy metals, hydrocarbons, solvents, acid mine drainage, landfill leachates and environmental impacts of extractive industries.
4. Emerging contaminants: PFAS, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine disruptors, microplastics, nanomaterials, antimicrobial resistance.
5. Groundwater quality surveillance and early warning: Contaminant monitoring, pollution indicators, groundwater quality risk mapping, surveillance systems, vulnerability analysis.
6. Contaminant fate and transport: Reactive transport, hydrogeochemical processes, attenuation mechanisms, contaminant pathways.
7. Groundwater protection and remediation: Aquifer remediation, managed aquifer remediation, source control, risk-based remediation and groundwater restoration strategies.
8. Groundwater, drinking water and public health: Exposure assessment, drinking water safety, waterborne health risks, groundwater quality standards, risk communication, vulnerable communities, exposure pathways and environmental epidemiology.

Theme 5

Groundwater, industry, extractive activities and energy transition

Focus: Sustainable groundwater management across mining, energy, manufacturing, major infrastructure and emerging subsurface technologies.

1. Mining hydrogeology, mine water and closure: Mine dewatering and depressurization, groundwater inflows, pit lakes, groundwater rebound, tailings seepage, waste-rock facilities, acid rock drainage, lithium brines, closure planning, post-closure recovery and environmental liabilities.

1. Groundwater and oil and gas development: Baseline groundwater characterization, conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon development, hydraulic fracturing, produced water, flowback fluids, methane migration, well integrity, abandoned wells, deep formation brines, monitoring, decommissioning and remediation.
2. Groundwater and geological carbon storage: CO₂ storage in deep saline aquifers, pressure propagation, brine displacement, caprock integrity, leakage pathways, faults and abandoned wells, reactive transport, monitoring and verification, groundwater protection and long-term stewardship.
3. Industrial groundwater management and circular water systems: Industrial abstraction, process and cooling water, water reuse, circular water management, managed recharge using treated water, industrial groundwater footprints, corporate water stewardship, ESG indicators and drought resilience.
4. Groundwater and the energy transition: Geothermal energy, aquifer thermal energy storage, underground hydrogen storage, compressed-air energy storage, lithium extraction, critical minerals, green hydrogen production and competition for subsurface space.
5. Engineering hydrogeology and underground infrastructure: Tunnels, metros, dams, underground caverns, deep excavations, construction dewatering, groundwater inflows, grouting, cutoff systems and infrastructure-aquifer interactions.
6. Groundwater and radioactive waste management: Geological repositories, groundwater flow in host formations, radionuclide transport, engineered and natural barriers, uranium mining, long-term safety assessment, monitoring and nuclear-site decommissioning.
7. Groundwater allocation and conflict among productive sectors: Competition among communities, agriculture, mining, industry, energy and ecosystems; cumulative impacts; drought allocation; environmental justice; benefit-sharing; conflict prevention and negotiated groundwater management.

Theme 6

Groundwater, ecosystems and nature-based solutions

Focus: Environmental sustainability and ecosystem resilience.

1. Groundwater-dependent ecosystems: Wetlands, springs, rivers, estuaries, terrestrial ecosystems, ecological thresholds, groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) and ecosystem vulnerability.
2. Ecohydrogeology and environmental flows: Ecosystem services, groundwater-ecosystem interactions, environmental water requirements, environmental flows and socio-ecological systems.
3. Nature-based solutions: Green infrastructure, watershed restoration, ecosystem-based adaptation, stormwater recharge and nature-based groundwater replenishment.
4. Groundwater and biodiversity conservation: Habitat protection, ecological resilience, species conservation and protected areas.
5. Urban groundwater and blue-green infrastructure: Sponge cities, stormwater management, urban resilience and nature-based urban water management.
6. Groundwater restoration and ecosystem recovery: Ecological restoration, contamination recovery and resilience enhancement.
7. Valuing ecosystem services provided by groundwater: Natural capital, ecosystem service assessment, environmental economics and sustainability accounting.
8. Groundwater, climate change and ecosystem resilience: Climate impacts on groundwater-dependent ecosystems, ecosystem adaptation, drought resilience, nature-based climate solutions, carbon sequestration and ecosystem recovery.

Theme 7

Groundwater governance, equity and peacebuilding

Focus: Institutions, participation, and social dimensions.

1. Human right to water and groundwater access: Water rights, access and affordability, groundwater security, legal frameworks.
2. Community-based groundwater management: Water user associations, collective action, local governance and stewardship initiatives.
3. Stakeholder engagement and social learning: Multi-stakeholder platforms, participatory planning, local/community level conflict resolution and consensus building.
4. Citizen science and knowledge co-production: Citizen monitoring, collaborative research, community data collection and science communication.
5. Groundwater governance in fragile and conflict-affected regions: Humanitarian contexts, post-conflict recovery, water security and resilience building.
6. Groundwater cooperation: Local stakeholder engagement, community dialogue, collaborative management and social cohesion.
7. Institutional innovation and adaptive governance: Polycentric governance, adaptive management, governance transitions and institutional resilience.
8. Equity, environmental justice and groundwater access: Vulnerability assessment, equitable allocation, social impacts, distributive justice, marginalized communities, gender-responsive and inclusive groundwater governance.

Theme 8

Innovations and the future of groundwater cooperation

Focus: Emerging technologies and transformative approaches.

1. Artificial intelligence and machine learning: Predictive analytics, pattern recognition, forecasting and automated interpretation.
2. Digital twins and smart aquifer management: Real-time modelling, digital aquifers, integrated management platforms, scenario planning, decision intelligence and adaptive management.
3. Big data and digital groundwater systems: Data integration, cloud computing, interoperable databases, FAIR data architecture, open science and digital decision-support systems.
4. Groundwater and the water-energy-food-ecosystem nexus: Resource interdependencies, nexus modelling, integrated management, sustainability trade-offs, groundwater-energy interactions, renewable energy transitions and resource security.
5. Groundwater and planetary boundaries: Earth system processes, groundwater sustainability limits, resilience assessment and global change.
6. Innovative financing and economic instruments: Water funds, payment for ecosystem services, groundwater markets and blended finance.
7. Transformative partnerships: Public-private partnerships, international cooperation, innovation ecosystems and regional alliance.

Theme 9

Cross-cutting issues and capacity development

Focus: Building the future groundwater community through inclusion, education, capacity development, ethics, and knowledge sharing.

1. Gender equality and social inclusion: Diversity, equity, participation, inclusive governance, women in groundwater, underrepresented groups and social inclusion strategies.
2. Indigenous and local knowledge systems: Co-production of knowledge, ancestral and traditional practices, indigenous groundwater stewardship, intercultural dialogue and customary water governance.
3. Youth engagement and future hydrogeologists: Student initiatives, early-career professionals, mentoring, leadership development, career pathways and young professional networks.
4. Ethics and responsible groundwater stewardship: Environmental ethics, intergenerational equity, professional responsibility, governance accountability and ethical use of emerging technologies.
5. Capacity development and professional training: Workforce development, continuing professional development, technical training, institutional strengthening, practitioner training, South-South and North-South cooperation, institutional capacity development and knowledge transfer.
6. Open science and knowledge sharing: Open science, scientific reproducibility and knowledge exchange.
7. Groundwater and the sustainable development goals: SDG 6, SDG interactions, policy integration, indicators and monitoring and groundwater contributions to sustainable development.
8. Groundwater education, literacy and public awareness: Hydrogeology curricula, teaching innovations, field schools, digital learning, groundwater literacy, K-12 education, university education, science communication, outreach, citizen awareness and policy communication.