California faces a water crisis, with groundwater resources dangerously overtaxed. Community engagement and the use of new technologies can help Californians mobilize.
From California’s Central Valley to the croplands of Iran, groundwater depletion has accelerated over the last four decades across the world’s arid food-producing regions. In many parts of the western United States, India, Chile, Spain, Mexico and other countries, groundwater levels have been rapidly declining as water is heavily pumped to irrigate farmlands, according to a new study analyzing measurements from 170,000 wells in more than 40 countries. The research, published in the journal Natur
The atmospheric river that has inundated California is a mixed blessing, at once easing drought conditions and promoting threatened fish species while also nourishing the growth of vegetation that will eventually fuel future wildfires. After severe drought conditions for most of this century, California is forecast to have its second wet year in a row, though not quite as wet as the exceptional precipitation of a year ago. As of Monday morning, precipitation in Northern California so far this year was only 85% of its historic average, said Jay Lund, vice director for the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis.