- Drawing on a conference session on groundwater embedded in distal relations, we present the outcome of an interdisciplinary discussion on conflicts and boundaries in groundwater geographies. We present five case studies illustrating key aspects of how conflicts evolve and boundaries change. We identify epistemic contestations and transition phases of adjustment as common themes across the cases. We furthermore expose a tension between the urgent needs for producing applied groundwater research and implementing findings on one hand and taking time for reflective research modes and questioning modes of knowledge production in groundwater research on the other hand. We argue that continuous epistemic boundary work is needed, bridging perspectives and disciplines, while also engaging with epistemic pluralism and conflicting assumptions. Here geography has a timely role to play in the current struggle for sustainable and just groundwater futures.
