World Water Day, initiated by the United Nations and held on 22 March every year since 1993, highlights the importance of freshwater and promotes global awareness. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.
This 2022, the theme is Groundwater: Making the invisible visible. Focusing on groundwater, an invisible resource with an impact visible everywhere, World Water Day aims to enhance knowledge exchange and collaboration and thereby increase the awareness of the importance of protecting and sustainably using groundwater. Mongolia has been celebrating the day since 2005.
Compared to many other countries, Mongolia’s water resources are limited. With an estimated total water resources at 564.8 million m3/year, the majority comes from surface water (98.1 percent), including glaciers, and only 1.9 percent comes from groundwater resources. However, groundwater is the primary source of water supply in Mongolia and accounts for approximately 82 percent of water use. Mongolia is susceptible to water stress and is projected to experience significant gaps in water supply and demand in two economically significant areas: Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia, and the southern Gobi region, Mongolia’s mining hub, both are dependent primarily on groundwater.
