Preface
The global need for clean groundwater resources has
never been more pressing. Industrial development is driving the economies of
developing nations throughout the world, especially in Asia, Africa and South
America. Apart from the significant structural and economic changes associated
with industrialization, profound societal effects can emerge as national
workforces respond to industrial development. Most significant among these is
the phenomenon of urbanization, i.e. the concentration of human population in
urban centres. According to UN statistics, the percentage of the world
population living in urban centres has risen from 29% in 1950, to 49% now, and
is expected to reach approximately 60% in the next 20 years.
In
the same 80-year period, to 2030, the global population is expected to rise
from 2.5 billion to 8.2 billion. This population shift has a direct impact on
groundwater resources. Urban planners are not only facing unprecedented
challenges in supplying water to burgeoning urban metropolises, but must also
manage the quality of limited water resources to ensure that basic health and
environmental standards are met. Climatic variations induced by global warming
may require substantial extra investments in water infrastructure to service changing
needs.
GQ07
was the sixth in an international series of conferences* held under
the aegis of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS).
With GQ07, hosted by CSIRO in Fremantle, Western Australia, 2–7 December
2007, the series headed to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time.
Australian, Pacific and Asian researchers were provided with ready access to
the conference and, together with strong European and North American
contingents, a global reach to the technical programme was evident. The main
theme of the conference was the securing of groundwater quality in urban and
industrial environments.
Our
relationship with groundwater is bipolar. Increasingly, we depend on it for our
very survival, in developed and developing nations alike. However, our urban
and industrial activities involve routine and detrimental impacts to the
quality of our groundwater reserves. The science of groundwater quality is
therefore paramount to underpin successful and sustainable management of this precious
resource. Discussions were held on a range of urban and industrial groundwater
quality issues, including:
á
major
instances of groundwater contamination and consequent human impact,
á
emerging
chemicals of concern and the ability of the natural environment to assimilate
them,
á
new
contamination assessment, characterization and remediation techniques,
á
data
integration and analysis for decision making,
á
development
of water management policy and controls,
á
groundwater
quality transformations near receiving environments.
The
research papers presented at GQ07 by leading scientists and water professionals
from around the globe formed a valuable summary of the state of knowledge in
these areas. Key topics included arsenic contamination, management of radioactive
sites, non-aqueous phase liquids, biogeochemical and isotopic processes,
land-use influences, surface water–groundwater interaction, and the
regulation and protection of groundwater supplies. This publication consists of
72 selected and peer-reviewed papers from GQ07; they include both oral and
poster papers presented at GQ07, and were selected for publication by the GQ07
Editorial Board from almost 300 submitted abstracts.
Mike Trefry
CSIRO Land and Water, Private
Bag No 5
Wembley, WA 6913, Australia
* The volumes of selected papers published after
earlier GQ conferences are all available from IAHS Press :