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Contaminated groundwater in the Central Valley of California is a growing problem due to contamination and overuse. [1] This problem is compounded by the overdrafting of underground aquifers. [1] nitrates are the most abundant pollutants in the Central Valley due to the copious amounts of agricultural runoff from the farms. [2]
The Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program (GAMA) is an all-inclusive monitoring program for groundwater that was implemented in 2000 in California, United States. It was created by the California State Water Resources Control Board as an improvement from groundwater programs that were already in place.
In California, groundwater accounts for around 41% of the state's total water supply, [1] although this number varies between wet and dry years. During years of greater than average rainfall, less groundwater is used to allow for reserves to be available during dry years. Up to 60% of all water can be sourced from groundwater during dry years.
Groundwater pollution (also called groundwater contamination) occurs when pollutants are released to the ground and make their way into groundwater.This type of water pollution can also occur naturally due to the presence of a minor and unwanted constituent, contaminant, or impurity in the groundwater, in which case it is more likely referred to as contamination rather than pollution.
Some California farming communities have been plagued for years by problems with their drinking water due to nitrates and other contaminants in the groundwater that feeds their wells. Advocates ...
Compounds like pesticides and pharmaceuticals from fertilizers are carried by water from farms into their surrounding areas soil and water bodies. [23] Then runoff happens after rainfall or irrigation, which causes an influx of chemicals to leak out of the soil where they were dumped and into rivers, lakes, and groundwater. [23]
Excessive groundwater pumping has long been depleting aquifers in California's Central Valley. Now, scientists say the depletion is accelerating.
In 2015, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Lahontan Region served PG&E with an order to clean up the effects of the chromium discharge. At the time of the report, the plume was "8 miles (13 km) in length and approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) in width, throughout the Hinkley Valley and into Harper Dry Lake Valley."