THESys postdoc Dr. Theresa Frommen makes the invisible groundwater visible. And she is doing so both in Berlin and in Jaipur, India, as she reports in an interview on the HU news portal.
“Many people mistakenly perceive groundwater as an infinite resource”
What the hydrogeologist has found is that many people mistakenly perceive groundwater as an infinite resource and have little understanding of hydrogeological relationships. In general, groundwater is better protected from pollution, evaporation and human impact than surface water. Nevertheless, climate change, population growth and groundwater extraction by industry and agriculture are having a significant impact on groundwater levels.
“In Berlin, too, the dry years from 2018 to 2020 have led to a drop in the groundwater level,” says Frommen. This phenomenon can be observed even more clearly in Jaipar in northwestern India, where the groundwater level has dropped by one to two meters per year in recent decades.
“To be able to protect groundwater, we need to understand how and why people use it. And at the same time, we need to better explain the hydrogeological relationships – in other words, make the invisible groundwater visible.” This is why one of Theresa Frommen’s goals is to involve the people who use groundwater more closely in research.
The entire interview can be read on the HU news portal: „Wir müssen das unsichtbare Grundwasser sichtbar machen“
Find out more about Theresa’s research here: Theresa Frommen
photo credits: Kolja Bosch
