Annual Report 2025

From our President

Dear IAH Members, Dear Colleagues,

2025 has been a year of geopolitical conflicts, climate change induced extreme weather and precipitation events. Throughout these challenges, IAH has an important role to play in emphasising and strengthening the crucial role of water, and in particular groundwater, as the key to a healthy society and an essential part of life and culture as we know it. As an organisation we can build bridges between nations by sharing knowledge and experience of groundwater related issues through our National Chapters, Commissions and Networks. And of course, the various events held by these groups, alongside the annual IAH World Groundwater Congress, can only support a more mature, science-based approach to dealing with these problems. From sustainable transboundary aquifer governance to local MAR interventions, sharing knowledge not only provides direct access to the most up to date methods and technologies but also strengthens connections between IAH members and their wide network of contacts.

I would like to thank you, our National Chapters, Commissions and Networks, the IAH Executive Committee, Council, and Trustees and all who contribute to promoting the knowledge of groundwater resources and improving management and governance of this vital resource. This wouldn’t be possible without the strong support from our Secretariat, whose excellent and dedicated work ensures the smooth running of IAH.

IAH took part in an extensive range of activities during 2025. We encourage everyone to inform the Secretariat or submit directly through the online platform their events, so IAH members and anyone else interested in groundwater are aware of them and can participate. Without being exhaustive, I would like to emphasise the following points from 2025.

The Hydrogeoday/Hidrogeodía, initiated by the Spanish National Chapter (AIH-GE) was celebrated in 11 countries in 2025, which is an excellent example of how local initiatives can develop into global activities.

The First Pan-African Hydrogeology Congress was held online in August 2025, coordinated by IAH’s Sub-Saharan Africa Vice President, Seifu Kebede Gurmessa. This three-day event featured keynote addresses, poster presentations, and interactive sessions focused on water security and climate adaptation across the continent with the theme “Uniting Groundwater Research, Innovation, and Collaboration for Water Security in Africa”. The virtual format ensured the event was free and entirely accessible to hydrogeologists across Africa and the globe. I am pleased that the initiative has continued, with the second Pan-African Hydrogeology Congress taking place between 27–28 August 2026.

The 52nd World Groundwater Congress (IAH 2025) took place in Melbourne in September, with pre-congress workshops and fieldtrips, which embraced the theme “Groundwater: For Now, and the Future.” A big thank you to the Australian National Chapter and the Congress Organising Committee chaired by Ben Hall for this excellent event, which brought together 817 groundwater specialists from across the globe to share insights, exchange expertise, and foster learning.

IAH’s activities also include international engagement to promote groundwater science and influence global policy. We are an official partner of UN Water and UNESCO IHP, and a member of the UN Expert Group on Groundwater. These activities are coordinated by the LUNA (Liaison with UN activities) Network, under the leadership of Alice Aureli. We organised a webinar titled “Glaciers and Groundwater Interactions: Challenges in a Changing Climate” on World Water Day 2025, and contributed to the World Water Development Report 2026 on Gender and Water, facilitated by our Socio-Hydrogeology Network.

It was a great honour for me to have the opportunity to represent IAH at the High-Level Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme and 60 years of UNESCO Water Sciences where in addition to taking part in the High-Level “The Future of Water” and the Forward-Looking Panel: “Groundwater’s Next Chapter” panel discussions, IAH received a thank you plaque for its long-standing contributions to UNESCO IHP’s goals.

IAH’s successful journal, the Hydrogeology Journal continues publishing excellent scientific publications thanks to its dedicated reviewers, editors and editorial staff. Thank you to Jean-Christophe Comte, our new Executive Editor, and outgoing Executive Editor Cliff Voss for the smooth transition.

The IAH Strategic Overview Series has 16 topics which provide information on key interactions between a variety of sectors with groundwater resources. The priority now is to translate the series; work is ongoing and the translations are accessible on IAH’s website. Thank you to all volunteers for these translations. Your support in translating IAH’s Strategic Overview Series is also always welcome, so please let us know if you are willing to contribute.

The Co-Managed Aquifer Recharge (CO-MAR), part of our Technical Insight Series (TIS) of publications, was released in January 2025 with the collaboration of the IAH-MAR Commission. The latest in this series (published in 2026) prepared by the IAH Groundwater Quality Commission: ‘Antimicrobial Resistance – A Growing Global Groundwater Challenge’ presents the environmental pathways that lead to the occurrence of antimicrobial pharmaceuticals in groundwater, the development of antibiotic-resistant genes, and the regulation and future outlook of this insidious contamination.

Financially, IAH is in good shape, our membership has reached 5000 members, which provides a solid basis for engagement in numerous activities and initiatives.

I am looking forward to our joint work actively contributing to the 2026 UN Water Conference, in highlighting the importance of groundwater to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and sending a strong message to policy and decision makers, ensuring that groundwater is considered in planning the Water Agenda beyond 2030.

Teodóra Szőcs

IAH President