Water is the world’s greatest shared resource. It has underpinned the growth and development of ecosystems and human civilizations. But now this life-enabling reserve is under pressure.

Climate change is affecting the availability of water. As global temperatures rise, glaciers are melting, lakes are evaporating and rising seas are salinizing coastal groundwater. More extreme and more frequent weather phenomena are making water supply more unpredictable.

As the world’s population continues to increase, there is rising demand for water for agriculture, household use and sanitation, industrial activities and power generation. Meanwhile, water pollution is increasing at unprecedented rates, with a growing number of contaminants causing harm throughout the water cycle.

To protect and sustain our water resources — and thereby also our societies and economies, our health and the health of our planet — we first need to understand them. This means measuring, monitoring and tracing water and its pollutants. We need data, water-saving technologies — especially in agriculture and industry — and effective water management systems, plus collaboration and coordination across sectors and national borders.

“Atoms for Water” is the theme of this year’s IAEA Scientific Forum. Nuclear sciences and technology offer powerful tools to understand and protect our water resources. That is why water has been a priority area of the IAEA’s work since the very beginning.

For 65 years, the IAEA has been monitoring precipitation through the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation, providing baseline data for hydrological research and water resource management. The IAEA’s Isotope Hydrology Section and its laboratory have been studying isotopes in water to identify its age and source, track its movement and assess its quality. This can help determine how much water we have, how long it takes for groundwater to replenish and whether we are using it efficiently. It also helps identify and track water contaminants.

The IAEA also has a long history of developing and disseminating technologies and methods for monitoring, measuring, preserving and sustaining water resources using nuclear and isotopic techniques. This issue of the IAEA Bulletin covers some of our work in these areas, such as combining data from cosmic ray neutron sensors with drip irrigation technology to make agricultural water use more efficient, and treating wastewater with electron beam technology to make it easier to collect and remove microplastics.

It also describes how IAEA scientists are using artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies to advance analysis and modelling throughout the water cycle, providing decision makers with better information for water resource management.

Pollution, especially plastic pollution, blights our water systems and oceans. In 2021, I launched the Nuclear Technology for Controlling Plastic Pollution (NUTEC Plastics) initiative to harness the power of nuclear science in addressing the global plastic crisis by improving plastic recycling and reducing marine plastic pollution. In 2023, I launched the Global Water Analysis Laboratory (GloWAL) Network to empower countries to manage their water resources effectively and to foster collaboration and innovation in water research. Through our technical cooperation programme, the IAEA provides countries with training, expertise and equipment to enhance their national capacities for water research, monitoring and management.

We share a global water system, where developments in one region can affect water resources in another. To effectively manage the world’s water resources, we need to understand these connections and we need to cooperate. By working together, we can build a more circular and sustainable water economy that protects our environment and benefits us all.

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