Groundwater, Climate Resilience & Africa’s Aquifers with Richard Taylor

How should we understand groundwater in a warming world? Why has groundwater become the climate resilience resource for millions of people and what do we now know about how fast recharge can occur? What does new data tell us about the future of groundwater across Africa and Asia? And how can communities and governments manage groundwater without falling into the trap of over-extraction?

Host Veena Srinivasan speaks with Richard Taylor who has spent decades studying groundwater systems across East Africa, West Africa, South Asia, and the UK, and has helped reshape how scientists understand recharge, resilience, and climate impacts underground.

In this episode, they discuss why groundwater is our largest and most crucial distributed store of freshwater and serves as a critical buffer against climate change. They explore how a warming world leads to fewer but heavier rainfalls, and what this means for increasing groundwater recharge, especially in the tropics.

Professor Taylor further explains the science behind rapid recharge, a concept derived from his work in East and West Africa, where water travels through “macropores” to reach deep aquifers in just hours or days. They also touch upon the “Sahelian paradox,” a curious case in places like Niger where groundwater levels are rising due to changes in land use.

Suggested Readings:

1. More about Richard Taylor: University Website | Google Scholar
2. Jasechko, S., Seybold, H., Perrone, D. et al. Rapid groundwater decline and some cases of recovery in aquifers globally. Nature 625, 715–721 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06879-8
3. Scanlon, B. R., Fakhreddine, S., Rateb, A., de Graaf, I., Famiglietti, J., Gleeson, T., Grafton, R. Q., Jobbagy, E., Kebede, S., Kolusu, S. R., Konikow, L. F., Long, D., Mekonnen, M., Schmied, H. M., Mukherjee, A., MacDonald, A., Reedy, R. C., Shamsudduha, M., Simmons, C. T., Sun, A., Taylor, R. G., Villholth, K. G., Vörösmarty, C. J., & Zheng, C. (2023). Global water resources and the role of groundwater in a resilient water future. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 4(2), 87-101. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00378-6
4. Taylor, R. G., Scanlon, B., Döll, P., Rodell, M., van Beek, R., Wada, Y., Longuevergne, L., … Treidel, H. (2013). Groundwater and climate change: Recent advances and a look forward. Nature Climate Change, 3, 322–329. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1744
5. Cuthbert, M. O., Gleeson, T., Bierkens, M. F. P., Ferguson, G., & Taylor, R. G. (2023). Defining renewable groundwater use and its relevance to sustainable groundwater management. Water Resources Research, 59, e2022WR032831. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR032831
6. Jasechko, S., Perrone, D., Befus, K. et al. Global aquifers dominated by fossil groundwaters but wells vulnerable to modern contamination. Nature Geosci 10, 425–429 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2943
7. Damkjaer, S., Taylor, R. The measurement of water scarcity: Defining a meaningful indicator. Ambio 46, 513–531 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-017-0912-z
8. Jasechko, S., Seybold, H., Perrone, D. et al. Rapid groundwater decline and some cases of recovery in aquifers globally. Nature 625, 715–721 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06879-8

The Water Data Podcast is a talk show on the science, systems, and stories of water hosted by Veena Srinivasan.

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