The Commission on Karst Hydrogeology, also known as the Karst Commission (KC), was founded in 1970 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and it is an important part of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH). The general idea was to organise a group of hydrogeologists from different countries, with relevant experience in karst hydrogeology, to promote cooperation among scientists interested in karst topics, exchange experiences and, particularly, create an optimal strategy for groundwater resources development. From foundation until today, more than 40 formal meetings and many informal KC gatherings (including field trips) have been convened in different karst regions, and a number of papers and books have been published by KC members. The first publication in the IAH book series International Contributions to Hydrogeology (the “blue books”) was on the subject of karst, presenting the experiences gleaned from a number of development projects from various karst regions, as well as bibliographic data on karst research of the time. Today, the KC is one of the most active IAH groups, with 70 permanent members from 6 continents and many young researchers, whose work is supported by funding and regular awards. The KC members have led or have been involved in many projects run with international cooperation. The two largest, completed in the course of the past decade, are the World Karst Aquifer Map (WOKAM) and the Dinaric Karst Transboundary Aquifer System (DIKTAS) projects. This paper summarizes the history of the KC to date.

喀斯特水文地质委员会，又称喀斯特委员会（KC），于1970年成立于瑞士纳沙泰尔，是国际水文地质学家协会（IAH）的重要组成部分。总体思路是组织一组来自不同国家的水文地质学家，他们在岩溶水文地质方面具有相关经验，以促进对岩溶主题感兴趣的科学家之间的合作，交流经验，尤其是为地下水资源开发制定最佳策略。从成立到今天，已经在不同的喀斯特地区举行了40多次正式会议和许多非正式的KC聚会（包括实地考察），KC成员出版了许多论文和书籍。IAH系列丛书中的第一本出版物《水文地质学国际贡献》（“蓝皮书”）以喀斯特为主题，介绍了来自各个喀斯特地区的许多开发项目中收集的经验以及当时的喀斯特研究书目数据。今天，KC是最活跃的IAH小组之一，有来自6大洲的70个常任理事国和许多年轻的研究人员，其工作得到了资金和定期奖励的支持。KC成员领导或参与了许多与国际合作开展的项目。在过去十年中完成的两个最大的项目是世界岩溶含水层地图（WOKAM）和狄纳里克岩溶跨界含水层系统（DIKTAS）项目。本文总结了迄今为止KC的历史。