ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Groundwater use has spectacularly increased during the last five or six decades. It is estimated that this use has increased in half century from 100-150 km3/year to 900-1,000 km3/year today. This intensive use has been described as a silent revolution performed by millions of farmers with scarce planning and control by the conventional governmental water agencies. Although the accuracy of most water data is generally illusory, it seems that today half of mankind drinks groundwater and more than 50% of the economic value of the irrigated agriculture is obtained with groundwater irrigation.
