A massive supply of freshwater has been discovered beneath the sea floor on continental shelves around the world, a finding that could provide a new solution to a looming global water crisis according to a report published last week.

“Knowing about these reserves is great news because this volume of water could sustain some regions for decades,” lead author Dr. Vincent Post said according to a release. Post is a researcher for Australia's National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT) and a lecturer at the School of Environment at Flinders University in Australia.

“Freshwater on our planet is increasingly under stress and strain so the discovery of significant new stores off the coast is very exciting. It means that more options can be considered to help reduce the impact of droughts and continental water shortages.”

Water scarcity affects almost half of the world’s population, and scientists predict that by 2030 47 percent of the population will be living in areas of high water stress, according to U.N. Water, an inter-agency of the United Nations that supports states in water-related efforts.

According to U.N. Water, humans are also over-consuming natural resources, including water, at an unsustainable rate. About 3.5 Earths would be needed to supply water to a global population consuming at the rates of the average European or North American.

The Flinders University study, published Dec. 5 in the international scientific journal Nature, said there is an estimated half million cubic kilometers (nearly 120,000 cubic miles) of low-salinity water buried under the seabed.

The water could be used to supplement water supplies of coastal cities in Australia, China, North America, and South Africa.

“The volume of this water resource is a hundred times greater than the amount we’ve extracted from the Earth’s sub-surface in the past century since 1900,” Post said, adding that while scientists knew freshwater could be found under the sea floor, they believed it was rare.

Now, Post said their research shows that “fresh and brackish aquifers below the seabed are actually quite a common phenomenon.”