April is Earth Month. Watching the beautiful scenery of spring with green sprouts growing everywhere, we must take a moment to contemplate which steps to take for the betterment of the Earth and the environment. There are many things on the planet that makes the Earth appear blue, but one of the most essential elements that makes up 70% of the Earth’s surface is water. The Earth purportedly looks cerulean from space because of the oceans, lakes, and rivers. It means that we can see how much water makes up the Earth even from outer space. This amount of water is, however, being reduced. Peculiar changes can already be seen taking place around the Earth, with massive chunks of glaciers quickly melting, the changing climate, and desertification happening everywhere. This is why we have to take action to safeguard the water that keeps the Earth blue.

In fact, March 22nd, not long ago, was World Water Day. Some may wonder why we need to make a big fuss and celebrate the existence of water, which is so easy to access, like a cup of water or the tap water we can get if we simply turn on the faucet. If you look around though, we can occasionally find countries struggling due to water shortages. That translates into hundreds of millions of people in the world, and one out of every four elementary schools around the world does not have a water supply service at all. And if they do have one, the students are often exposed to unsafe water. If you look closer at the women and children suffering from water shortage, over 700 children under the age of five are dying everyday due to unsafe water, while over 800 women are dying from complications during pregnancy and childbirth after drinking dangerous water. This is therefore a paramount problem that is taking the precious lives of over 1,000 women and children daily.

Accordingly, the UN stated that March 22 was to be designated as World Water Day, declaring that the world needs to respond to the increasingly serious issues of water shortage and contamination. This is not meant to be set as a commemorative day or a campaign day, but rather, to raise the world’s awareness about the importance of water at all times and to encourage people to make efforts so that everyone can have access to safe water.

The agenda for this year’s World Water Day was groundwater, “Groundwater – Making the invisible visible,” to be more exact. One may throw doubt on the relevance of the theme, but groundwater is one of the most important resources for human life. The groundwater that flows beneath our feet is, in fact, a vital element in our lives that is usually not revealed so explicitly. As much as 99% of the fresh water that contains no salt (e.g., water from rivers and lakes) that people not just in Korea, but around the world drink and shower with comes from groundwater. Groundwater, however, is not seen as a natural resource, or is undervalued by many people. For this reason, it is often mismanaged or abused. The Water Development Report published by UNESCO forecasts that groundwater will increasingly become a more important asset of the people due to environmental degradation and acceleration in climate change. This is why the world needs to continue to conserve and manage groundwater despite it being invisible. The task presented to the world on World Water Day was to raise the issue of groundwater that flows in every corner of the world and keep it close to our hearts.

At the World Water Forum held at Dakar, Senegal, ahead of the World Water Day on March 21, 2022, UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay expressed her views on groundwater as below.

We still think we can continue to drink water and use it the way we do and that water will never go away. The things that we take for granted may one day be destroyed and for some, it has already become a reality. I hope that people realize the value of water once in a while, if not on World Water Day, and endeavor to make even small efforts to conserve water.