地下水是台灣水資源運用的主要來源之一，也是生態環境中非常重要的一環。在國土資源的保育課題上，地下水文環境是絕不能忽視的項目。近二十年來由於臺灣地下水的使用供需失衡，尤以西南部地下水超限使用的情形甚為嚴重，已導致地下水位急遽洩降、沿海地區地層嚴重下陷、海水倒灌及海水入侵等國土資源損害問題。檢討臺灣地下水資源所面臨的危機主要在水量及水質二方面：儲量不單日益減少，水質也日益惡化。這二項危機的發生，顯示我們在地下水管理及開發上的雙重失敗，同時也付出了沉重的代價。本文旨在簡略介紹臺灣地下水環境在近五十年來的演變與危機，並提出一些可行的方案。
Groundwater not noly provides indispensable water resources, but also constitutes vital ecological components in Taiwan. The groundwater environment is thus a crucial element when dealing with the preservation and conservation of national resources. Such serious consequences as a decline in groundwater level, land subsidence, seawater flooding and encroachment along coastal regions have resulted from the over-draft of groundwater during the past two decades, particularly in the western and southern areas of Taiwan. Two major endangerments, if not crises, to Taiwan groundwater resources, namely a drop in the quantity and a deterioration in the quality clearly demonstrate that we have failed in both groundwater management and exploitation; to be sure, we have paid dearly for the damage. In this report, we briefly review the changes in the groundwater environment during the past half-century in Taiwan and propose some feasible measures for the remediation of the current and future groundwater problems.
