What’s beneath the ground we walk on? Many of us think of soil, rock, sand, and maybe some roots and earthworms. We may not think of water.
What’s beneath the ground we walk on? Many of us think of soil, rock, sand, and maybe some roots and earthworms. We may not think of water.
Yet more than 99 per cent of the fresh, unfrozen water on earth is located below us, says UVic water researcher Tom Gleeson. Unlike the freshwater above ground, which usually flows quite quickly in lakes, rivers and streams, underground water tends to meander slowly through cracks and crevices, often staying below the surface for years or even centuries. Gleeson says groundwater is the most reliable source of freshwater on the planet—so long as it is sustainably managed.
“Groundwater is the invisible water beneath our feet and found almost everywhere in the earth,” says Gleeson, a hydrologist in the Department of Civil Engineering who leads the UVic’s Groundwater Science and Sustainability research group and founded the international Water Underground blog.
Gleeson’s far-reaching contributions to groundwater research and sustainability have earned him a prestigious President’s Chair—the highest academic honour UVic can bestow on a faculty member. He is the second to receive the award, which was established in 2020 to recognize faculty who have achieved great distinction in research and teaching, and made significant contributions to UVic’s Strategic Framework priorities.
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