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Reflecting on the first edition of this book, written a decade ago, it has become increasingly evident that groundwater will play an essential part in meeting the water resources demands of the twenty‐first century, with groundwater already supplying an estimated 2 billion people worldwide with access to freshwater. Furthermore, the challenge of feeding a projected population of nine billion people by 2030 is likely to require an ever greater demand for water in growing crops, with a large fraction of irrigation water supplied by groundwater. Combined with other global environmental pressures resulting from altered patterns of temperature and precipitation as driven by climate change, adaptation responses to water use and management will become critical if demands for water are to be met. Hence, in order to set the scene for students and practitioners in hydrogeology, the second edition of this book includes new sections on the distribution and exploitation of global groundwater resources and possible approaches to adapting to climate change. A longer term view is also presented in which processes that act over geological timescales, such as the formation of sedimentary basins and crustal deformation during ice ages, are shown to have a profound influence on our understanding of groundwater flow patterns and the distribution of fresh groundwater resources today.

As with the first edition, the main emphasis of this second edition is to present the principles and practice of hydrogeology, without which the appropriate investigation, development and protection of groundwater resources is not feasible. An important addition to the current edition is Chapter 3 in which regional characteristics such as topography, compaction and variable fluid density are introduced and explained in terms of geological processes affecting the past, present and future groundwater flow regimes. In support of the new material presented in this chapter and throughout this second edition, and given the positive reception to the case studies published in the first edition, a further 13 boxes are included, as well as a set of colour plates, that are drawn from our teaching and research experience. The case studies illustrate international examples ranging from transboundary aquifers and submarine groundwater discharge to the over‐pressuring of groundwater in sedimentary basins and, as a special topic, the question of whether there is groundwater on the planet Mars. To help with a more rational presentation, some reorganization of material has occurred to separate investigation of catchment processes required to understand the role of groundwater as part of a catchment water balance (Chapter 6) from groundwater investigation techniques used to determine aquifer properties (Chapter 7). Also, Appendix 10 now includes a set of answers to the review questions in order to assist the reader consolidate his or her hydrogeological knowledge and understanding.

Kevin Hiscock & Victor Bense, Norwich

July 2013