State of Global Water Resources 2025 Report

State of Global Water Resources Report Latest News

India’s groundwater levels are declining persistently, according to the State of Global Water Resources 2025 report published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recently.

About State of Global Water Resources (SGWR) Report

• It is annually published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). 
• It provides a comprehensive quantitative overview of global water resources, with a focus on hydrological variability and trends. 
• SGWR 2025 Report Highlights:
  • Satellite observations and hydrological models showed that 42% of global land area had below-normal water storage in 2025. 
    • The measure covers water in rivers, streams and lakes, groundwater, soil moisture, snow and ice. 
  • Global terrestrial water storage has shown a declining trend since 2014–2016 — a persistent, decade-long signal. 
  • For the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass. 
    • The estimated loss during the 2025 hydrological year was about 408 gigatonnes, equivalent to roughly 1.1 millimetres of global sea-level rise.  
    • Central Asia, western Canada and the United States were among the regions recording particularly severe glacier losses. 
  • 2025 was one of the driest years for the world’s rivers in 35 years, with normal flows recorded across just 36% of global river basin area. 
  • Another 36% recorded below-normal or much-below-normal flows, while 21% had above-normal or much-above-normal flows. The remaining 7% was classified as having no data. 
  • The WMO found that the seven years from 2019 to 2025 had the smallest shares of river basins with normal flows since 1991. Those shares ranged from 34% to 38%, compared with an average of 46% over 1991–2020. 
  • Persistent groundwater deficits were observed during 2022–2025 in parts of the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, India, southern Africa and Australia, with over-abstraction identified as an important driver in several regions. 
  • Nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showed conditions outside the historical norm in 2025, and the balance shifted further toward deficit compared with 2024, not toward recovery.
  • Globally, 34 percent of groundwater observation stations reported below-normal to much-below-normal levels in 2025, compared with 25 per cent in 2024. 
  • Around 31 percent of observation stations reported above-normal to much-above-normal groundwater levels in 2025. 
  • Asia and Africa together accounted for at least half of all recorded water-related extreme events and more than 80% of reported associated deaths over the past five years 
  • India-Specific Findings:
    • India recorded below-normal terrestrial water storage in 2025, particularly across the northern part of the country.  
    • The report also found above- to much-above-normal reservoir inflows across India, while soil moisture was above or much above normal during both the December-February and June-August assessment periods. 
    • Among India’s major river systems, the Ganges, Godavari, Krishna and Indus recorded above-normal to much-above-normal discharge in 2025. 
    • However, the higher river flows did not translate into a broad recovery of India’s deeper water reserves.
    • The WMO found persistent groundwater deficits in India during 2022-2025, with widespread below-normal to much-below-normal groundwater levels, particularly in northwestern India.

News: DTE

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