California enters the fifth year of a drought and more and more water is pumped from the aquifer.
California enters the fifth year of a drought and more and more water is pumped from the aquifer. But the consequences could be disastrous, since in many areas the ground subsides and threatens roads and other infrastructure.
The phenomenon is not new, since the irrigation for farming in California encumbers for decades the stocks of water in the subsoil. However, this period the soil decline is accelerated dramatically, according to the new report of NASA, which was prepared on behalf of the California Department of Water Resources.
The study was based on images of the Japanese PALSAR satellite and the Canadian Radarsat-2 covering the period 2006 to 2015.
In the region of the San Joaquin Valley, the analysis showed that the decline rate is higher than ever and in some places it approaches five centimeters per month. In the area of Corcoran in Tulare Basin, the land was sunk by 33 centimeters in eight months.
The basic concern is that the ground subsidence could cause serious damage to the California Aqueduct, a network of channels and underground pipelines carrying water to Southern California from the mountains of Sierra Nevada.
"It is one of those long-term, slow and cumulative impacts," said Jeanine Jones, interstate resources manager at the Department of Water Resources. "The thing we're especially concerned about is the damage, long-term damage, to water infrastructure. Over time, that diminishes the ability to move water."
Besides the water system of California, ground subsidence could damage roads, bridges, wells and other infrastructure, and it could reduce the capacity of the aquifer.
"Groundwater acts as a savings account to provide supplies during drought, but the NASA report shows the consequences of excessive withdrawals as we head into the fifth year of historic drought," said Mark Cowin, the director of the Department of Water Resources.
Despite the restrictions on water consumption that California was forced to impose in recent months, the economy of the state is dependent on groundwater and the overexploitation is unlikely to stop soon.
Source: sacbee.com
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