The Groundwater Resources Governance in Transboundary Aquifers (GGRETA) Project addresses issues related to Transboundary Aquifers and responds to the pressing need of increasing the knowledge on their physical and socioeconomics characteristics. It is an integral component of the UNESCO’s International Shared Aquifer Resource Management (ISARM) Initiative and the Transboundary Waters Assessment Programme (TWAP).

In-depth assessments have been conducted in three selected case studies:

• The Esquipulas-Ocotepeque-Citalá (Trifinio) Aquifer in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
• The Stampriet-Kalahari/Karoo Aquifer in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.
• The Pretashkent Aquifer in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Second phase

In the second project phase, GGRETA is an effort towards a better integration of groundwater resources into the water management plans and operations, as a part of an approach to enable and foster international cooperation. 

The specific objective for the Pretashkent Aquifer Case Study is to build technical, scientific, legal and institutional and hydro-diplomacy skills to remove barriers that prevent international waters cooperation. A better integration of groundwater resources into the water management plans and operations, as a part of a technical assistance necessary to enable and foster transboundary cooperation.

The role of IGRAC

In the first project phase, IGRAC was responsible for data and information management; also IGRAC provided technical support to the project management and transboundary aquifer teams. In addition, IGRAC designed and developed a GGRETA Information Management System (IMS) to store, visualise and share information collected during the three aquifer assessments.

In the second phase, IGRAC was requested by UNESCO-IHP to organise the modelling activities in the Pretashkent Aquifer. The first expert meeting was held in Tashkent in May 2018.