Corporate Leadership For Depleting Aquifers

By Alejandro Litovsky, Margot Hill Clarvis 19 September, 2016

Earth Security Group's CEO brief shows aquifer depletion is a systemic business risk. Litovsky & Hill Clarvis expand

The exposure of multinational companies to depleting and degrading groundwater is increasing. The rapid depletion of aquifers is a systemic business risk in the world’s growing economies, including in some regions of China.

The rapid depletion of aquifers is a systemic business risk

A recent report by Earth Security Group shows companies that because the systemic risks of depleting groundwater are beyond their control, they must help improve groundwater decision-making by governments if they are to ensure the sustainable growth of their operations.

Our review of 75 of the world’s largest resource-intensive companies shows that their understanding of what to do is low

Companies face high exposure to the depletion of aquifers because groundwater resources are so poorly regulated. The absence of effective governance leads to a free-for-all, pitting in many cases large companies against small farmers and communities. Pollution due to the overuse of fertilisers and industry discharge is affecting drinking water for hundreds of millions of people. This confronts companies with existential threats.

Our review of 75 of the world’s largest resource-intensive companies shows that while many companies are increasingly aware of the major risks to their operations and license to operate, their understanding of what to do is low.

Global hotspots

Aquifers contain almost 96% of the planet’s freshwater. The majority is held in 37 of the largest aquifer systems globally. Out of these, recent studies using NASA’s satellites show that 21 are being depleted.¹ They are located in some of the most water-stressed areas globally and are subject to growing industry and population pressures. These reserves are still largely unregulated and unmonitored. The map identifies eight regions that pose an urgent risk to global companies with a call to action for business leaders. (click to enlarge image)

More than 2.5 billion people depend on groundwater for their basic water needs.² Some countries are more reliant than others: aquifers account for between 75%-95% of water use in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Morocco.³  Countries over-pumping their aquifers include China, India, United States, Pakistan, Iran, and Mexico.⁴

Countries over-pumping their aquifers include China, India, US, Pakistan & others

  Groundwater is an essential buffer in periods of drought. However, as climate change impacts intensify, aquifers are projected to undergo increased erosion and reduced recharge rates.  Increased frequency of flooding of coastal areas will also augment the salinity of aquifers, reducing water quality and usability.
 

“…as climate change impacts intensify, aquifers are projected to undergo increased erosion & reduced recharge rates.”

In California’s Central Valley, intense drought has increased the state’s reliance on groundwater from 40% to 65%.⁵  The fastest depletion of aquifers is taking place in semi-arid and arid countries with a high dependency on irrigation for agriculture. The trends are most significant across Northern India, the United States, Saudi Arabia, North China and North Africa.⁶ India alone draws 230 km³ of groundwater per year, more than a quarter of the global total, driven by agriculture and industry.⁷

Global estimates of the depletion of groundwater storage are uncertain.
It is not just a question of their depletion: overuse can increase the rate of
pollution and salinization of remaining groundwater reserves, increasing the costs of water supply. For example,
in the Ganges basin in India, at least
 70 million people are at risk from arsenic poisoning of groundwater due in part to increased fertiliser application, coal-fired power generation, leaching from coal ash tailings, and mining activities.⁸

Spotlight: North China Aquifer System

The North China Aquifer sits below a region that comprises 11% of the Chinese population, including Beijing. The region supports 13% of China’s agricultural production and 70% of the country’s coal production.⁹ Northern China relies on groundwater for half of its total water use, which is mostly used for agriculture and municipal supply.

In non- renewable parts of the North China aquifer, water levels dropped >100m in 2005

In Beijing, groundwater use accounts for around 60%
of water supply.¹⁰ In non- renewable parts of the aquifer, water levels had dropped by over 100 metres in 2005.¹¹

In response, the South-North Water Diversion project, the largest inter-basin transfer scheme in the world, is transferring 25 billion m³ of water from the Yangtze river along 1000 km to the northern area of China at a cost of USD 80 billion. Once complete, Beijing is set to phase out the city’s 40,000 private water wells.¹² China’s Water Ten Plan has also been introduced to set strict groundwater targets to control extraction and pollution by 2020 by changing agricultural practices and targeting specific industries to reduce their water consumption.¹³

Industry focus: Extractives

The social license to operate for mining companies is increasingly vulnerable to depleting groundwater. The sector’s water risks are growing due to increasingly water-intense unconventional extraction methods, growing costs of treating water, growing water stress in extraction regions, and pressure to improve the sustainability of oil reservoirs.¹⁴

“The social license to operate for mining companies is increasingly vulnerable to depleting groundwater.”

Unconventional fuel sources, such as shale oil and tar sands are expected 
to increase the sector’s underground water exposure. For example, 38% of the world’s shale resources face high to extremely high water stress or arid conditions, including the Lower Indus shale play in the Pakistani part of the Indus basin.¹⁵

In 2014, state-owned China Shenhua Group, the world’s largest coal producer, stopped abstracting groundwater resources at the Shenhua Ordos project
in Inner Mongolia due to new government requirements and disputes with local farmers. Groundwater levels had dropped by 62% in comparison to 2004 due to its operations.¹⁶

Shenhua & Rio Tinto experiencing operating issues due to groundwater regulations & disputes with locals

Rio Tinto’s USD 6.6 billion Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia is set to use approximately 20% of the Gunii Hooloi aquifer. The company has estimated that aquifers in the region could supply up to 500,000 m³ of water daily. However, by 2020, it is estimated that population growth will compete for these water sources.¹⁷  In 2013, the Umnugobi province, also in Mongolia, passed a resolution to prohibit groundwater extraction for mining 
purposes from 2016 onwards. However, following a court dispute between the national government and mining companies, the resolution was suspended.¹⁸

Our review of how companies are communicating on groundwater risks across strategic business functions concluded that companies in resource-intensive sectors should:

1. Communicate more about the work they are already doing on groundwater risks, improving how corporate teams across functions like risks management, sustainability and government affairs collaborate to improve corporate intelligence and focus on the right messages;
2. Collaborate with policy-makers and universities to improve their understanding of their systemic risks from depleting aquifers including sharing corporate data to improve decision-making; and
3. Prepare to increase their public engagement as public concern with aquifers grows, including advocating the pre-competitive cooperation with other companies within existing global corporate sustainability networks.

As a next step in this area of work, Earth Security Group is bringing companies, corporate networks, and policy-makers together in a workshop at Stockholm World Water Week on September 1^st 2016 to advance opportunities for such collaboration.

The Earth Security Group published the report “CEO Briefing: Global Depletion of Aquifers” in June 2016, on which the above article is based.
Click here to access the brief.

References