Scientists in Finland and the UK have built a computer model that visualises what water is doing underground in real time. They hope the new technology will help water companies extract groundwater sustainably and give a voice to people like farmers, who rely on the groundwater for their livelihoods.
Niko Putkinen, a senior scientist at the Geological Survey of Finland, and Holger Kessler, from the British Geological Survey, explain how the system works.
For more on this story, listen to Science in Action by BBC World Service.
Producer: Erika Benke
Camera: Juha Jarvinen
Edited by: Jennifer Green