Satellite data show that in the last nine years, as a powerful drought held fast and river flows plummeted, the majority of the freshwater losses in the Basin — nearly 80 percent — came from water pumped out of aquifers.
The decrease in groundwater reserves is a volume of water equivalent to one and a half times the amount held in a full Lake Mead, according to a study published today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
"We didn't think it would be this bad," said Stephanie Castle, a researcher at the University of California, Irvine, and the study's lead author. "Basin-wide groundwater losses are not well documented. The number was shocking."
With the ongoing megadrought and water shortage issues confronting the southwest, what is most alarming is that the above excerpt is from an article published in 2014, and unfortunately, this problem has only gotten worse. Whether it's in a reservoir or underground, water is quickly being depleted by U.S. population growth, which is driven by immigration policies, and places increasing demands on rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater for drinking, farming, and fueling industry.
Regrettably, this is not limited to states in the West. Residents of Ottawa County and Allendale Township, two places in Michigan experiencing rapid population growth, are seeing this scary situation unfold where the aquifers have "plummeted 40 feet since the 1990s," leaving residents in situations they never envisioned - turning on water faucets only to hear "spitting and sputtering." It is easy for most of us to assume that we'll never be in a situation where we simply won't have water. Yet, this situation is the growing reality being experienced throughout the West, especially in communities that are growing in population and are subsequently after more water, many of which have been faced with some opposition.
For example, a water shortage situation in Utah has pitted conservationists against local governments. It may be assumed that the good fight would be on the side of those purportedly caring for the environment, but how's this for irony:
In order to prepare for population growth in southern Utah's Cedar Valley, officials from the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District want to spend roughly $260 million to construct about 70 miles (113 kilometers) of buried pipes to transport water from an aquifer that sits below the Pine Valley. They argue limits on their local groundwater supply and an influx of new residents require they diversify their water supply to prepare for the future....
...conservationists argue that in Iron County, where agriculture — primarily alfalfa growers — uses 75% of water, the conversion of farmland into subdivisions "almost always frees up significant quantities of surplus water."
"It has been well established that as population increases, agricultural water use decreases. This occurs because as populations grow, they expand outward from urban centers, turning agricultural lands into strip malls, subdivisions, parking lots, and other less-water intensive landscapes," they write in the report...."
You aren't alone if you're also feeling confused. The article points out that one county is calling for more groundwater because of its population growth, while conservationists argue that urban sprawl is the solution. This honestly doesn't even make sense. Promoting the destruction of open space to save water?!
Thankfully, in some places, such as in Hill Country, Texas, the finite supply of groundwater has provided local conservationists with different views where they are fighting to acknowledge that the area's natural beauty is at risk due to the "unslakable groundwater thirst," and this land must be protected to because "the choices we collectively make now will determine whether the region and its inhabitants survive and thrive, or whether we willfully live beyond the means and carrying capacity of this place we call home."
Should we put the two aforementioned conservationist groups in touch with each other? We can argue all day and point fingers at each other, but it's not going to help protect our groundwater resources. This is because we're already at a point where "far more groundwater is being pumped than can be naturally replenished." What happens when it runs out? The Atlantic puts it pretty bluntly:
...When groundwater runs out, myths of growth and profit collapse into dust. Drying aquifers can result in starvation, migration, and violence. Or they can prompt us to rethink our relationship to one another and to the irreplaceable natural resources that we share. Aquifers belong to everyone, and especially to future generations....
Exactly - these precious national treasures deserve our protection, stewardship, and care. Yet, our government officials have turned a blind eye to a crucial component of doing so, which is to address our country's population growth that primarily stems from their inability to reign in the unprecedented levels of immigration.
Amy Boylan is the Content Writer for NumbersUSA's Sustainability Initiative
