Ground Water

Earth’s landmasses are drying.

As the climate warms, new data show huge swaths of land across the globe are quickly drying, threatening humanity’s supply of fresh water. 3/4 of humanity lives in nations where net groundwater is declining.

In most places, there is less precipitation, even as moisture evaporates from the soil faster. Earth is being slowly dehydrated by the unmitigated mining of groundwater, which underlies vast proportions of every continent.

In the far north, the detected loss is due largely to glaciers melting and sub-Arctic lakes drying. But farther south — where most people live — it is largely the race to suck groundwater from aquifers that is removing the water from the continents.

Many of the aquifers underlying almost half of Earth’s continents, took millions of years to form and might take 1,000s of years to refill.

The groundwater loss is even a bigger factor in sea level rise than melting glaciers.

Uninhibited pumping of groundwater by farmers, cities and corporations around the world now accounts for 68% of the total loss of fresh water in lower latitudes.

Dramatic depletion of groundwater and surface water between 2014 and 2024 has connected once-separate arid places, forming “mega-drying” regions that stretch across whole continents. One stretches from Central America through most of Mexico, up the US Great Plains to south central Canada. Another covers almost all of Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, into Pakistan and northern India.

28 major cities in the US are sinking. So are Jakarta, Venice, Shanghai, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Lagos, Rotterdam, Bangkok, and Alexandria Egypt. Some of the world’s most productive farmland is sinking with them. So is California’s Central Valley, which grows the bulk of US fruit and vegetables.

This drying underlies a future later this century when most people have very little fresh water.

The World’s Essential Aquifers Are in Deep Trouble 0124.rtf

America Is Using Up Its Groundwater like There’s No Tomorrow 0823.rtf

2022-24 Articles

The Colorado River Is Running Low. It Looks Even Worse Underground. 0525.rtfEarth’s Soil Is Drying Up. It Could Be Irreversible. 0325.rtfWater TablesRecord Rainfall Failed to Replenish Los Angeles Groundwater Supply in 2023 - 0225.rtfThe Hidden Crisis in Europe’s Groundwater 0524.rtfDraining the World of Fresh Water 0424.rtfAmerica Is Using Up Its Groundwater like There’s No Tomorrow 0823.rtfDry Springs in Central Texas Warn of Water Shortage Ahead 0823.rtf - Many springs are affected, some of which give rise to town names.SE UK Faces Early Hosepipe Ban, as Drinking Water Stocks Face Record Demand 0623.rtfCalifornia’s Groundwater Gold Rush Woes 0423.rtfIt’s Not Just Oceans That Are Rising. Groundwater Is, Too. 0323.rtfHow California Is Using Recent Floods to Prepare for Future Drought 0323.rtfParched California Misses a Chance to Store More Rain Underground 0223.rtfAs Colorado River Dries, the U.S. Teeters on the Brink of Larger Water Crisis 0822.rtf

California’s Groundwater Gold Rush Woes 0423.rtf

It’s Not Just Oceans That Are Rising. Groundwater Is, Too. 0323.rtf

NASA Is Watching California’s Groundwater Crisis from Space 0422.rtf - Tulare Basin is sinking a foot a year. Groundwater depletion is a big problems much of Brazil as well.

2015-2020 Articles

U.S. Food Trade Increasingly Leans on Unsustainable Groundwater 0120.rtfClimate Change May Reduce Soil’s Ability to Absorb Water – a Key Store of CO2 - 0919.rtf - more root mass, fewer soil poresClimate Change Endangers Half the World’s Groundwater Supply 0119.rtfCoping with Seawater Invading South Florida’s Drinking Water Source 0618.rtfHow Climate Change Will Mess with Water ‘Recharge’ in Western U.S. 1117.rtfAs Global Groundwater Disappears, Rice, Wheat, Other Crops May Start to Vanish 0417.rtfVital Groundwater Depleted Faster than Ever 0417.rtf - trade in thirsty cropsClimate Change Key Suspect in the Case of India’s Vanishing Groundwater 0317.rtfAfrica Droughts Prompt Calls to Start Pumping Untapped Groundwater 0816.rtfWhat Happens to the Great Plains When the Water's Gone? 0716.rtfEnergy-Water Nexus Issues Heighten in the Face of Climate Change 0716.rtfWhat You Need to Know About the World's Water Wars 0716.rtfGroundwater Forum Warns of Severe Drought in South Asia 0616.rtfGroundwater Depletion Adding to Global Sea-Level Rise 1215.rtfScarred Riverbeds and Dead Pistachio - country is turning to more desertTrees in a Parched Iran 1215.rtfNew Map of Earth's Groundwater to Help Estimate When It May Run Out 1115.rtfCalifornia Could Be the Next Saudi Arabia – of Water 1115.rtfEarth's Largest Groundwater Aquifers Are Past ‘Sustainability Tipping Points' 0615.rtfWhy Fresh Water Shortages Will Cause the Next Great Global Crisis 0315.rtfNASA Launches Satellite to Monitor Planet’s Soil Moisture Content 0115.rtfNASA Warns Earth's Fresh Groundwater Reserves Are Disappearing 0115.rtfProbing the Unknowns of What Warming Does to the Earth's Fertility 0115.rtfThe Southwest’s Most Important Number - Vapor Pressure Deficit 0115.rtf

2008-15 Articles

Change in US Groundwater, by County 1948-2012.pngU.S. Food Trade Increasingly Leans on Unsustainable Groundwater 0120.rtfGroundwater Depletion in the United States (1900−2008) 0513.rtfWe’re Running Out of Water - California & Desalination 1114.rtfKale or Fracking? Farmers and Corporations Fight It Out for Water 1114.rtfCalifornia Needs to Overhaul Its Groundwater Protection 0714.rtfGroundwater Pumping Propping Up Farms in California Drought 0714.rtfWater Planners Focus on Bigger Texas, Not a Hotter One 0714.rtfIn Texas Drought, Abbott Keeps Lawn Green by Drilling 1113.rtfAfrica Faces Water Crisis Despite Discovery of Huge Aquifers 1013.rtfGroundwater Wake-Up - Asia, US, etc 0813.pdfWater & Groundwater in China 0308.pdfGround Water Levels in Ogallala Aquifer - USGS 1999.pdfGroundwater Changes in California - Kuss 0312.pdfIn Drought, Water War in California Fought Underground 0913.rtfHuge Ground Water under Africa 0412.rtfWith Tar Sands Development, Growing Concern on Water Use 0813.rtfShrinking Aquifers in Drought-Stricken Areas 0613.rtfFarm Subsidies Increase Water Use 0613.rtfRains or Not, India Struggles for Water 0313.rtf‘Mining’ Groundwater Could Fuel Climate Change 0213.rtfJakarta Sinking as Water Supplies Dry Up 1212.rtfHarder Rains in Warmer World May Better Recharge Groundwater 1112.rtfPumping Groundwater Raises Sea Level 0512.rtfGroundwater Depletion Perilously Accelerates Worldwide 0910.rtfKansas Groundwater Acidifies 1108.rtf

Water Tables

How rising seas can cause ground-water to become salty.

Salinity intrusion is already a severe problem in Bangladesh.

It is a serious problem in many other countries, including Vietnam, Egypt, Tanzania, Senegal, Micronesia, even Florida and Louisiana. (See Sea Rise impacts page.)

Water Tables Articles

10s of Millions of Acres of US Cropland Lie Abandoned 0624.rtf - mostly above the remains of the Ogallalla AquiferNASA Is Watching California’s Groundwater Crisis from Space 0422.rtfA Federal Drought Relief Program Left Southern Oregon Parched 1121.rtfThe Ongoing Collapse of the World's Aquifers 0121.rtfAmazon Rainforest Likely Drier, More Fire-Prone This Year 0420.rtfGroundwater Depletion May Cause Domestic Wells to Dry Out 0719.rtfWater Shortages to Be the Environmental Challenge of the Century, NASA Warns 0518.rtfClick for more

Climate Change Key Suspect in the Case of India’s Vanishing Groundwater 0317.rtfScarred Riverbeds and Dead Pistachio Trees in a Parched Iran 1215.rtf'Shocking' Underground Water Loss in US Drought 0714.rtfWorld's Water Tables Falling Fast 0607.rtfCalifornia Water Loss - 30 Cu Km in 5 Years 1209.rtfLatest Casualty of Drought May Be US Aquifers 0513.rtfTexas Groundwater Levels Suffer Sharp Drop 0513.rtfOgalalla Farmers Watching Their Water Use 1012.rtfGrowing Water Deficit Threatening Grain Harvests 0711.rtfIrrigation Depletes India’s Groundwater - 54 Cu Km per Year 0809.rtfOgallala Aquifer in Texas Panhandle Suffers Big Drop 0513.rtfDrop in US Underground Water Levels Has Accelerated 0513.rtf

Water Shortages to Be the Environmental Challenge of the Century, NASA Warns 0518.rtf

Europe Is Parched, in a Sign of Times to Come 0915.rtf

change in mm of H2O / yr, scale -20 to +25. Brown / red areas are losing the most water.
Blue / dark blue areas are gaining the most.

The Canning River flows to Perth. The Central Valley is California’s. The Guarani Basin is south of Brasilia, east of Asunción and Santa Fe, west of São Paulo and Curitiba, and north of Montevideo.

170 mm of water loss from Guarani's Aquifer approximates 200 cu km, 130 mm lost from the US Southern Plains almost 25 cu km, and north China's 170 mm loss since 2004 about 20 cu km. Northwest India lost 109 cu km from Aug. 2002 to Oct. 2008.

From J.S. Famiglietti, “The global groundwater crisis”, Nature Climate Change, Oct. 29, 2014.

Groundwater Depletion in the United States (1900−2008) 0513.rtf - abstract

"Estimated groundwater depletion in the United States during 1900–2008 totals approximately 1,000 cubic kilometers (km3). Furthermore, the rate of groundwater depletion has increased markedly since about 1950. Maximum rates occurred during the most recent period (2000–2008), when the depletion rate averaged almost 25 km per year (compared to 9.2 km3 per year averaged over the 1900–2008 timeframe).” Or 7.8 km3 per year from 1900 to 2000. Before 2000-2008, depletion rates were next fastest over 1951-1980, at 15.1 km3) per year (from full study, below).

Groundwater Depletion in the United States (1900−2008) - USGS / Kownikov 0513.pdf 75 pp

Groundwater Trends - UNESCO 0712.pdf - 44 pages

Excerpts:

World map of abstraction intensity
Top 10 abstraction nations
Abstraction by continent and use
Trends for 8 top depleting nations
Trends for aquifers
Trends for countries (mm sea level rise).

GROUNDWATER ABSTRACTION estimated based on IGRAC (2010), AQUASTAT (n.d.), EUROSTAT (n.d.), Margat (2008) & Siebert et al. (2010).

**Average of the 1995 and 2025 'business as usual scenario' estimates by Alcamo et al. (2003).

Groundwater depletion has accounted for ~ 5% of the 250 mm sea level rise since 1900.

Groundwater Changes in California - Kuss 0312.pdf

California Water Loss.rtf - 30 Cubic Km in 5 Years 1209

Irrigation Depletes India’s Groundwater.rtf - 54 cu km per Year 0809

North India's maximum groundwater loss rate is almost 2 inches per year, but much of central California's is 15-45 inches per year, up to 100 inches in one small area. But the affected area in north India is much larger.