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Groundwater pumping has been causing the land to sink at a record pace in California's San Joaquin Valley. New research suggests ways of addressing the problem.
California’s San Joaquin Valley may be sinking nearly an inch per year due to the over-pumping of groundwater supplies, with resource extraction outpacing natural recharge, a new study has found.
It is a growing problem in the developing world as cities increase in population and water use, without adequate pumping regulation and enforcement. One estimate has 80% of serious U.S. land subsidence problems associated with the excessive extraction of groundwater. [21]
The state groundwater law, which was signed nearly 10 years ago, requires local agencies in many areas to develop groundwater plans and curb overpumping by 2040.
Mayes told reporters Wednesday that the Arizona Legislature has done nothing to fix the groundwater problem despite knowing about the problem for years. “While laws regulating groundwater pumping could have prevented this situation, the legislature’s inaction has allowed the crisis to grow,” Mayes said.
Groundwater-related subsidence is the subsidence (or the sinking) of land resulting from unsustainable groundwater extraction.It is a growing problem in the developing world as cities increase in population and water use, without adequate pumping regulation and enforcement.
increased storage of groundwater that may be used for irrigation, municipal, household, and drinking water by pumping from wells; waterlogging and drainage problems in villages, agricultural lands, and along roads - with mostly negative consequences. The increased level of the water table can lead to reduced agricultural production.
Environmental advocates have long urged the county to adopt measures that would prevent groundwater pumping and well drilling from drying up these streams and damaging vital fish habitat.