On this World Water Day, we remind ourselves of the critical role groundwater plays in our society, including for public health and prosperity, the environment, and industries. To make the invisible visible, there may be no better starting point than geophysics. SGC geophysicists work on groundwater issues from multiple angles, using a wide range of airborne, ground-based, and downhole technologies.
Going beyond our work for industries and governments, we are excited to be a technical partner in a SEG Geoscientists Without Borders project proposal that has progressed to Phase II. The project will apply hydrogeophysics principles to explore for groundwater for minorities in Huong Lam village in Vietnam, where surface water is ephemeral and, when present, often contaminated. If successful, the results of this project and the local know-how that will be developed for the community and the local government will be essential to finding a way to harvest groundwater sustainably and provide permanent access to potable drinking water; a basic human right.