Governing a shared hidden resource: a review of governance mechanisms for transboundary groundwater security

The paper identifies that usable groundwater is rapidly decreasing globally due to mismanagement and climate change, posing a particular challenge for the nearly 600 transboundary aquifers. To address this, the authors propose five governance recommendations: enhancing flexible international mechanisms, addressing the need for data, prioritizing the precautionary principle and pollution prevention, integrating surface and subsurface water and land governance, and expanding the institutional capacity of binational or multinational actors.

• Global usable groundwater levels have decreased rapidly due to a combination of mismanagement—including contamination, under-regulation, and overpumping—as well as urbanization and climate change, which have reduced natural recharge.
• There are nearly 600 aquifers that are transboundary, extending across international political borders, which makes their management particularly challenging.
• The authors argue that effective transboundary groundwater governance requires five specific processes: the use of flexible and context-specific international mechanisms; the continuous acquisition of groundwater data; the prioritization of pollution prevention and the precautionary principle; the integration of land and surface/subsurface water governance where appropriate; and the expansion of institutional capacity for multinational or binational actors.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2025). Governing a shared hidden resource: a review of governance mechanisms for transboundary groundwater security. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/governing-a-shared-hidden-resource-a-review-of-governance-mechanisms-for-transboundary-groundwater-security/

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Governing a shared hidden resource: a review of governance mechanisms for transboundary groundwater security. 2025. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/governing-a-shared-hidden-resource-a-review-of-governance-mechanisms-for-transboundary-groundwater-security/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Governing a shared hidden resource: a review of governance mechanisms for transboundary groundwater security |date=13 January 2025 |url=https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/governing-a-shared-hidden-resource-a-review-of-governance-mechanisms-for-transboundary-groundwater-security/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2025governing, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Governing a shared hidden resource: a review of governance mechanisms for transboundary groundwater security}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/governing-a-shared-hidden-resource-a-review-of-governance-mechanisms-for-transboundary-groundwater-security/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }