Sustained environmental and human health protection is threatened by ~350,000 chemicals available in global markets, plus new biological entities including coronaviruses. These water-quality hazards challenge the proponents of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) who seek to ensure the integrity of groundwater. A risk-based regulatory framework accounting for groundwater quality changes, adoption in subsurface attenuation zones, and use of advanced monitoring methods is required to support confidence in the sustainability of MAR.