Global Groundwater Crisis Deepens, Threatening Water Security for Future Generations
WASHINGTON D.C. – A new study reveals a rapidly escalating global groundwater crisis, with unsustainable pumping rates threatening water supplies worldwide, researchers announced today. The study, published this week, underscores a critical imbalance: long-term groundwater reserves are being depleted for short-term economic gains, a trend experts warn will have devastating consequences if left unchecked.
“The truth is,water is not being valued and the long-term reserves are exploited for short-term profits,” said Dr. Chandra Chandanpurkar,a researcher involved in the study.
The research highlights a concerning lack of regulation in many regions. In numerous areas experiencing declining groundwater levels, there are currently no restrictions on well-drilling, pumping volumes, or mandatory water usage reporting – even the installation of meters is often optional.
The crisis is already manifesting in visible ways. In California, intensive agricultural practices, especially in the nut and fruit industries, have led to the depletion of aquifers, leaving several thousand rural households without access to well water over the past decade. This overpumping has also caused meaningful land subsidence, with some areas sinking as much as one foot per year, damaging critical infrastructure like canals, bridges, and levees.
California adopted a landmark groundwater law in 2014 aimed at curbing overpumping, but the law allows many areas until 2040 to fully address the problem, and groundwater levels have continued to fall in the interim.Despite ongoing investment in stormwater capture and aquifer replenishment projects, the situation remains precarious.
Similar issues are unfolding in Arizona. While a 1980 law attempts to preserve groundwater in urban areas, vast swaths of the state remain unregulated. Over the last decade, out-of-state companies have expanded large-scale farming operations in the desert, drilling deep wells to grow crops like hay.
Jay Famiglietti, lead author of the study and formerly a senior water scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, expressed concern over a lack of awareness among global leaders. “Of all the troubling findings we revealed in the study, the one thing where humanity can really make a difference quickly is the decision to better manage groundwater and protect it for future generations,” famiglietti said. “Groundwater will become the most significant natural resource in the world’s drying regions. We need to carefully protect it.”
The study’s authors urge immediate national and global efforts to manage groundwater resources and safeguard this “precious resource” for future generations, even as efforts to combat climate change face challenges. The researchers emphasize that proactive groundwater management represents a critical and achievable step towards ensuring long-term water security.