Groundwater is arguably the world’s most important natural resource. It is vital to all living things, providing drinking water – at least in part – for approximately 50% of the population worldwide.[1] However, it exists in aquifers underground hidden from sight, and is unfailingly undervalued. Since the development of pumping technology after World War II made it possible to extract more water from aquifers, this precious resource has been extracted at a rate faster than it can be recharged. A review of groundwater data conducted by the New York Times illuminates the frightening condition of the nation’s aquifers as the increasing demands of population growth and industry exhaust supplies.

The Times reviewed data from thousands of wells that monitor groundwater, finding that close to half of the sites showed significant depletion over the past 40 years and that four of every ten wells hit record lows in the past decade.[2] The data also showed that since 1940, “more wells have had falling water levels than rising levels.”[3]

Groundwater loss is apparent across the country where water supplies can no longer sustain large-scale agriculture or support new development. The visible signs are mounting: buckling roads, sinking ground, fissures in the earth, increased saltwater intrusion, and vanishing rivers and streams. Widespread lack of precipitation has decreased water availability, prompting additional pumping to compensate for the shortfall. While pumping takes little time, aquifer recharge requires thousands of years, although many aquifers are destroyed by over-pumping, the land settling in a manner that renders them no longer viable for water collection.

An overarching lack of understanding of aquifer levels fosters the ongoing behaviors that will eventually lead to system collapse. Broadscale collection and analysis of data is lacking at both the federal and state levels as is policy to regulate these withdrawals. While unchecked pumping continues as a means of sustaining population and industry demands, the security of the population and its economic systems become jeopardized by the very practice meant to sustain it.

[1] “The Importance of Groundwater.” The Groundwater Project, 27 Oct. 2020, gw-project.org/the-importance-of-groundwater/.

[2] Rojanasakul, Mira, et al. “America Is Using up Its Groundwater like There’s No Tomorrow.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 28 Aug. 2023, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/28/climate/groundwater-drying-climate-change.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare.

[3] Rojanasakul, Mira, et al. “America Is Using up Its Groundwater like There’s No Tomorrow.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 28 Aug. 2023, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/28/climate/groundwater-drying-climate-change.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare.