Dry groundwater wells in the western United States
Declining groundwater levels are common in parts of the western US, but their impact on the ability of wells to pump groundwater is not known. Here we collate groundwater well records for the western United States and present the recorded locations, depths, and purposes of more than two million grou...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa8ac0 |
| _version_ | 1797748154142031872 |
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| author | D Perrone S Jasechko |
| author_facet | D Perrone S Jasechko |
| author_sort | D Perrone |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Declining groundwater levels are common in parts of the western US, but their impact on the ability of wells to pump groundwater is not known. Here we collate groundwater well records for the western United States and present the recorded locations, depths, and purposes of more than two million groundwater wells constructed between 1950 and 2015. We then use the well records to estimate the percentage of wells that were dry during the years 2013–2015. During the two year period, dry wells were concentrated in rural areas with high agricultural productivity, such as parts of the California Central Valley and the High Plains. Our results support anecdotal evidence that wells used for domestic purposes are more susceptible to drying than wells used for agricultural purposes throughout California’s Central Valley because the former tend to be shallower. However, this is not the case in all regions. Our findings suggest that declining groundwater levels are threatening drinking water reliability and agricultural productivity, and consequently, have key implications for both domestic and agricultural water security. Ongoing reductions to groundwater storage are drying groundwater wells in the western US, and this manifestation of water scarcity warrants innovative groundwater management transcending status quos. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:01:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-aa4a67c612204c0abbff421a56d7b760 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:01:52Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-aa4a67c612204c0abbff421a56d7b7602023-08-09T14:37:14ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262017-01-01121010400210.1088/1748-9326/aa8ac0Dry groundwater wells in the western United StatesD Perrone0S Jasechko1Water in the West , Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, United States of America; Civil and Environmental Engineering , Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, United States of America; Environmental Studies , University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, United States of America; Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.Department of Geography , University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 4H7 , Canada; Bren School of Environmental Science and Management , University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, United States of AmericaDeclining groundwater levels are common in parts of the western US, but their impact on the ability of wells to pump groundwater is not known. Here we collate groundwater well records for the western United States and present the recorded locations, depths, and purposes of more than two million groundwater wells constructed between 1950 and 2015. We then use the well records to estimate the percentage of wells that were dry during the years 2013–2015. During the two year period, dry wells were concentrated in rural areas with high agricultural productivity, such as parts of the California Central Valley and the High Plains. Our results support anecdotal evidence that wells used for domestic purposes are more susceptible to drying than wells used for agricultural purposes throughout California’s Central Valley because the former tend to be shallower. However, this is not the case in all regions. Our findings suggest that declining groundwater levels are threatening drinking water reliability and agricultural productivity, and consequently, have key implications for both domestic and agricultural water security. Ongoing reductions to groundwater storage are drying groundwater wells in the western US, and this manifestation of water scarcity warrants innovative groundwater management transcending status quos.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa8ac0groundwatergroundwater wellsdeclining groundwater levelsdry groundwater wells |
| spellingShingle | D Perrone S Jasechko Dry groundwater wells in the western United States Environmental Research Letters groundwater groundwater wells declining groundwater levels dry groundwater wells |
| title | Dry groundwater wells in the western United States |
| title_full | Dry groundwater wells in the western United States |
| title_fullStr | Dry groundwater wells in the western United States |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dry groundwater wells in the western United States |
| title_short | Dry groundwater wells in the western United States |
| title_sort | dry groundwater wells in the western united states |
| topic | groundwater groundwater wells declining groundwater levels dry groundwater wells |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa8ac0 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dperrone drygroundwaterwellsinthewesternunitedstates AT sjasechko drygroundwaterwellsinthewesternunitedstates |