Aquifer Depletion

Water scarcity is increasing worldwide and dramatically affecting first world nations such as Spain, Australia, and the United States. All nations are now starting to recognize that the world's water is a finite resource, and that resource is being drastically altered in both availability and quality by development, climate change and population growth. In the United States, the Colorado River is experiencing rapid declines in volume. Recent studies and data suggest that the changes in frequency, intensity, and timing of the availability of water will have substantial impact on the way we live our lives in the 21st century and beyond. As Letmathe Brakeck said, “I am confident that, under present

Each year, at least 7.8 trillion gallons of water are drawn up from the Ogalla Aquifer to irrigate the crops planted on the High Plains. These cros are the main food sourrce for our entire country. Tragically, irrigation is depleting the aquifer faster than it can replenish itself, and that is the problem. In fact, only the tiniest fraction of the water is ever replaced in the Ogallala Aquifer. If the water were ever fully depleted, the aquifer would need 6,000 years to refill naturally (Zwingle 83). The only way the Ogalla can be replenished is by water seeping down through the layers of soil until it reaches the aquifer. This water comes from the small amount of precipitation in the region, as well as from streams, reservoirs, canals, and irrigation (McGuire and Sharpe).

The State of Colorado has suffered from a water shortage in recent years; a difficult situation which is easily visible when viewing the quickly shortening length of the Colorado River. Lake Mead, for example, is roughly 130 feet lower than it once was, marked by the stained rock which towers above the current water level. “The river has become a perfect symbol of what happens when we ask too much of a limited resource: it disappears. In fact, the Colorado no longer regularly reaches the sea” (Zielinski, 2010). Legislation was implemented early on to address this issue, though the results were (perhaps not surprisingly) rather unanticipated, regarding

Webb (2003) conducted numerical analysis of source-water dynamics of stream-bounded alluvial aquifers, along the Ohio River in northern panhandle of West Virginia, with consideration of lateral infiltration of groundwater from bedrock aquifer. However, the author did not verify her model to the field data. On the other hand, Kozar and McCoy (2004) presented groundwater-surface water interaction and simulation of groundwater flow in the alluvial aquifers from the northern panhandle of West Virginia without considering recharge form adjacent bedrock and leakage from overlying tributary streams. Although, Bader et al., (1997) and Unthank (1999) independently identified that the alluvium along the Ohio River, West Virginia and Kentucky respectively is recharged by the following means: (1) precipitation on the flood plain, (2) inflow from fractures in the bedrock beneath and adjacent to the alluvium, (3) inflow from tributary streams through gravel deltas and bedding-plane partings, and (4) induced inflow from the river. Water flowing in tributary streams can percolate through the deltas to the gravel under the clay-silt layer (Grain, 1966). Unthank (2013) updated model and reran it which generated significant difference between measured water levels and model-computed water levels in the aquifer. The author concluded that more accurate and site-specific estimates of field parameters, refined model geometry, and additional numerical method improve

Groundwater is water that seeps through the ground and gets stored in aquifers. The supply of groundwater is always changing because it is constantly used and replenished. The groundwater supply replenishes and grows due to rain and snow melt and can decrease due to things like droughts and heavy usage. Depending on the type of surface of the ground as much as 20 percent of the rain and snow melt can seep into the ground or as little as 5 percent (Raymond, 1988). Areas where as much as

California has always had a warm climate, yet its supply of water has rarely been affected. In 2014 California’s water shortage issue truly began. Due to low amounts of snow in the winter in recent years, California has tried to equal out these shortages by drilling water from underground aquifers. Yet, underground aquifers recharge much slower than surface water sources. California has already made significant drawbacks to attempt to limit the amount of water they use, so these aquifers can recharge. But still resources continue going down and the Central Valley Aquifer’s water level is rapidly declining. Luckily, on April 7, 2017 the drought stage of emergency in California was ended. Yet the issue isn’t truly resolved. Glen MacDonald

Arizona has an incredibly large dependence on the Colorado River and groundwater. In fact, 39% of all water usage in Arizona is comprised of Colorado River water. Any dependence of that scale on any resource that originates in another area is always a major risk, as any major disaster or drastic change to the source of the river can cripple the state’s water supply. Furthermore, while Arizona does house the majority of the Lower Basin of the Colorado, the Colorado’s Upper Basin is shared between 4 other states, all with their own water needs and all with a susceptibility to drought. On the other hand, another 40% of all water Arizona uses is from groundwater sources. However, the Colorado River and these groundwater sources in the Colorado River basins have lost over 65 cubic kilometers of water over the last 9 years, with nearly 2/3 of it from groundwater loss due to over-pumping. This is because

Now, what is an aquifer and what is it used for? Aquifers are an aquifer is a body of saturated rock through which water can easily move (isu.edu). In order for a well to be productive, it must be drilled into an aquifer (isu.edu). Rocks such as granite and schist are generally poor aquifers because they have a very low porosity (isu.edu). However, if these rocks are highly fractured, they make good aquifers (isu.edu). A well is a hole drilled into the ground to penetrate an aquifer (isu.edu). One aquifer, called the Ogallala aquifer, produces one-fifth of the nations freshwater to crops in the mid-west (washingtonpost.com). But there is a problem, it is starting to dry up (washingtonpost.com). As a result, the aquifer is slowly getting depleted, with the water table dropping by as much as two feet per year in some counties (washingtonpost.com). And once they drain, it could take hundreds or thousands of years for those ancient aquifers, which were first formed millions of years ago, to fully recharge with rainfall (washingtonpost.com). Researchers found that 30 percent of the Kansas portion of the Ogallala Aquifer has already been pumped out, and another 39 percent will get used up in the next half-century at existing rates (washingtonpost.com). Kansas, clearly, is on the fast track to depletion (washingtonpost.com). As a result, agricultural production is likely to

The dust settled as the last vehicle departed the newly established ghost town. What was once a bustling rural community in eastern Colorado, complete with a school and church, and businesses off the main street, has become deserted due to a lack of water. This has become an all too familiar scene in rural communities across Colorado as the increasing demand for water and the dwindling water supply pits water users against one another. The state’s free market style of appropriating water, known as prior appropriation, allows for this highly competitive, and often detrimental situation to persist. As climate change and population growth continue to strain the water supply in Colorado, it will be necessary to adjust the strict prior appropriation

Within recent months it has rained heavily, but the soil is all dried up and is incapable of absorbing the water. “[T]he dry ground was unable to absorb the large quantities of rain, which ran off into flooded creeks down the Missouri River, without ever replenishing the aquifer.” As a result of this, the soil cannot retain rich nutrients from the rainwater and this causes the soil to dry up. This is a worrisome issue for current Lakota people living on the land because they are not able to grow crops or drink fresh water from the aquifer. They must limit their water consumption and plant their crops elsewhere.

Arizona is running out of water, and Central Arizona, the region where metropolitan Phoenix is located and inhabited by most of Arizona’s population, approximately 4.5 million out of the 6 million, has been one of the hardest hit (“5 Reasons to Panic about Arizona's Water, and 5 Reasons Not to”). It is essential that Central Arizona reduces the water intake of its industries, agriculture, and households because Arizona has been in an extended drought since the 90’s, and it is expected to continue (Schultz). The drought is causing Arizona’s water sources, primarily reservoirs, the Colorado River, and underground, non-replenishable aquifers to diminish. In fact, the Colorado River is shrinking each year which is a serious problem because the Colorado River supplies millions of people with water across seven states (“Colorado River

The problem in my regions, is that farmers use so much of the aquifer,whether it be from wells, irrigations systems, and even citizens using it in town. Our problem is that the Ogalala aquifer is runing low, and without that we wont have saafe drinking water. If we use up our aquifer, what are we supposed to do? The Texas Panhandle uses too much water, with farmers and in ctizens in town. We need to conserve water and attempt to make our aquifer last longer than we expect it to. Becuase without it, we won't have any safe drinking water, or any safe water for that

The current water shortage has left many reservoirs depleted with water. Littlerock reservoir has had a decrease in its water level in the recent years. The loss in water has had a devastating toll on the agriculture

This intensification results from the lessening distance to the Gulf of Mexico which is the water source for a majority of the state’s precipitation (Figure One) (North Dakota State University). The contribution of Lake Oahe, Devils, etc. is relatively minor in comparison. The crop growing season is when they get 75% of their water, from April to September, running from 110 to 130 days depending where you are in the state (Figure Two). While surface water is the major source of water for North Dakota, ground and surface are equally important sources of water for the state. The water quality of the states aquifers fluctuate considerably throughout; 60 million acre feet of water is amassed in the foremost unconsolidated aquifers, the volume deposited in the bedrock is unidentified. Another issue: waste water spills from unconventional oil manufacturing producing extensive water and soil pollution. In the last ten years alone, there have been 9,700 well drilled, resulting in over 3,900 brine spills. (Duke

In the documentary, “Last Call at the Oasis” it highlights the dark side of the excessive use of water by humans. It is no secret that water is the most important part of human survival, but how humans have been using water has taken a tremendous toll on the water supply. Water use is truly a tragedy of the commons, and as mentioned in the documentary, Lake Mead is just one example of how excess water use is affecting the water supply. Lake Mead provides water to Las Vegas and the surrounding regions as well as produces power with the Hoover Dam. However, the water level of Lake Mead has been dropping at a rate of 10 feet per year. While this may not seem