Groundwater Security in Data-Scarce and Climate-Vulnerable Regions: Bridging Hydrogeological Evidence, Innovation, and Governance

Groundwater not only supports domestic water supply, sustains agriculture, feeds ecosystems, powers industry, underpins the growth of cities around the world, but also acts as a crucial buffer against seasonal water scarcity and climate extremes. Nevertheless, effective management is often hindered in many regions due to uncertain recharge and storage estimates, inadequate long-term monitoring, poorly characterised aquifer systems, groundwater-quality deterioration, limited understanding of surface water–groundwater interactions, and fragmented institutional responsibilities. These challenges are exacerbated by climate variability and change, urbanisation, agricultural expansion, over-abstraction, contamination, land-use change, and coastal salinisation.. At the same time, advances in geophysics, remote sensing, environmental tracers, hydrochemistry, numerical modelling, artificial intelligence, machine learning, citizen science, and participatory approaches are offering new opportunities to generate evidence and enhance groundwater decision-making.Groundwater plays an increasingly crucial role in water security, climate adaptation, and socioeconomic development. Nevertheless, numerous regions that heavily rely on groundwater experience a persistent gap between available hydrogeological evidence, emerging technological innovations, and the governance systems necessary to translate knowledge into effective action. Sparse and fragmented monitoring networks, limited baseline data, institutional constraints, and weak science-policy linkages often hinder decision-makers' ability to assess groundwater availability, detect quality deterioration, anticipate climate-related risks, and manage competing demands. This Research Topic aims to address this gap by promoting integrated approaches that connect hydrogeological and hydrochemical understanding with innovative monitoring, modeling, decision-support, and governance. It seeks to present transferable methods, evidence, and frameworks that enhance the understanding of groundwater availability, quality, vulnerability, and resilience while strengthening the application of scientific knowledge in policy, regulation, planning, and community-level action, particularly in data-scarce and climate-vulnerable regions.We invite submissions that advance conceptual, methodological, and applied understanding of groundwater security and demonstrate how hydrogeological evidence and innovation can better inform governance, policy, and management. Relevant themes include:• Groundwater recharge, storage, and availability• Aquifer characterization and hydrogeological mapping• Hydrochemical and geochemical processes• Groundwater quality, contamination, and public health risks• Salinisation and coastal aquifer vulnerability• Impact of climate change and land-use change• Groundwater-dependent ecosystems• Surface water–groundwater interactions• Transboundary aquifer management• Geophysical and remote-sensing applications• Environmental tracers and isotope hydrology• Numerical modelling and uncertainty analysis• Artificial intelligence and machine learning in hydrology• Monitoring network and early-warning systems• Decision-support frameworks• Groundwater governance, regulation, and policy• Community participation and citizen science• Indigenous and local knowledge• Groundwater literacy and professional capacity development. We particularly encourage comparative studies, interdisciplinary analyses, and transferable frameworks across diverse geographical contexts. We welcome Original Research, Review, Methods, Perspective, and other relevant article types that integrate scientific evidence, technological innovation, and practical implementation. Topic editors: Yvonne Sena Akosua Loh, Evans Manu, Otman El Mountassir, Quy-Nhan PHAM Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84047/groundwater-security-in-data-scarce-and-climate-vulnerable-regions-bridging-hydrogeological-evidence-innovation-and-governance