Groundwater is disappearing at the rate of 17 cubic km every year, becoming a major cause of land subsidence.

Climate change and population growth have led to an increase in the use of water resources around the world. Farms and cities are increasingly turning to groundwater to meet their needs. Unfortunately, groundwater pumping can cause the surface of the land above to subside, as the aquifers beneath dry up and the ground architecture collapses. For the first time, a new study has traced this loss of groundwater storage capacity around the world.


In the study, published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers from DRI, Colorado State University, and Missouri University of Science and Technology examined how groundwater extraction is driving increased land subsidence and aquifer degradation. The study sheds light on the role of land subsidence caused by excessive groundwater pumping around the world.


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By combining publicly available data with the predictive capabilities of computer modelling, the researchers found that groundwater storage capacity worldwide is disappearing at a rate of about 17 cubic kilometres per year.


This loss of groundwater storage is permanent, permanently reducing the amount of water that can be stored and stored. Around 75 per cent of this decline is occurring in agricultural and urban areas, highlighting the importance of improving groundwater management on a global scale.

However, the study predicts that the rate of land subsidence is decreasing to less than 1 cm per year.


Even this amount could damage infrastructure and cause problems for coastal areas, which are also at risk from sea-level rise, the researchers say. Additional consequences of land subsidence include arsenic contamination and saltwater intrusion, both of which can affect the quality of remaining groundwater. 


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The researchers say the problem is not limited to arid regions, landslides have also been mapped in humid climates such as Bangladesh, India and Vietnam. This highlights the high dependence on groundwater even in areas where rainfall is abundant.

The scientists hope that water managers can use their data to understand the scale and extent of groundwater storage losses in their areas.

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