The 'water security' dialogue: why it needs to be better informed about groundwater

The global climate circles one hears the expression ‘water security’ used with ever increasing frequency, together with declarations about the urgency to increase water security in these times of unprecedented global change and future uncertainty. There is no agreement among experts on terminology, and some show little concern over its precise meaning, but it is generally conceived as the interaction between the physical stress on water resources, the risk of water-related hazards and the coping capacity in water management of the society concerned