Overdrafting

Overdrafting is the process of extracting groundwater beyond the safe yield or equilibrium yield of the aquifer.

Since every groundwater basin recharges at a different rate depending upon precipitation, vegetative cover and soil conservation practises, the quantity of groundwater that can be safely pumped varies greatly among regions of the world and even within provinces. Some aquifers require a very long time to recharge and thus the process of overdrafting can have consequences of effectively drying up certain sub-surface water supplies. Subsidence occurs when excessive groundwater is extracted from rocks that support more weight when saturated. This can lead to a capacity reduction in the aquifer.^[1]

Groundwater is the fresh water that can be found underground, it is also one of the largest sources. Groundwater depletion can be comparable to ¨money in a bank¨,^[2] The primary cause of groundwater depletion is pumping or the excessive pulling up of groundwater from underground aquifers.

Around the World

The ranking is based on the amount of groundwater each country uses for agriculture. This issue is becoming quite large in the United States (most notably California) but it is also worth noting that it has been a problem in other parts of the world, as was documented in Punjab, India in 1987^[4]

Accelerated decline in subterranean reservoirs

According to a 2013 report by research hydrologist, Leonard F. Konikow,^[5] at the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer between 2001–2008, inclusive, is about 32 percent of the cumulative depletion during the entire 20th century (Konikow 2013:22)."^[5] In the United States, the biggest users of water from aquifers include agricultural irrigation and oil and coal extraction.^[6]"Cumulative total groundwater depletion in the United States accelerated in the late 1940s and continued at an almost steady linear rate through the end of the century. In addition to widely recognized environmental consequences, groundwater depletion also adversely impacts the long-term sustainability of groundwater supplies to help meet the Nation’s water needs."^[5]

According to another USGS study of withdrawals from 66 major US aquifers, the three greatest uses of water extracted from aquifers were agriculture (irrigation) (68%), public water supply (19%), and self-supplied industrial (4%). The remaining about 8% of groundwater withdrawals were for “self-supplied domestic, aquaculture, livestock, mining, and thermoelectric power uses.”^[7]

Impacts on the environment

The environmental impact of overdrafting includes:^[8]

• Land subsidence - the collapse of land from lack of support (from the water that is being depleted). The first recorded case of land subsidence was in the 1940s.
• Lowering of the water table, which makes water harder to reach
• Reduction of water volume in streams and lakes because their supply is being diminished
  • Animals that depend on streams and lakes for food and water and habitat will be affected
• Deteriorating water quality
• The cost of water to the consumer rises. This is due to the water table lowering so more energy is needed to pump further down, and to cover that pumping companies need more profit.
• Crop production decrease from lack of water^[9]( 60% of US irrigation relies on groundwater so this is a large loss)
• Groundwater depletion also throws off the water cycle.

Effects on climate

Aquifer drawdown or overdrafting and the pumping of fossil water may be a contributing factor to sea-level rise.^[10] By increasing the amount of moisture available to fall as precipitation, severe weather events are more likely to occur. To some extent moisture in the atmosphere accelerates the probability of a global warming event. The correlation coefficient is not yet scientifically determined.

Socio-economic effects

Scores of countries are overpumping aquifers as they struggle to satisfy their growing water needs, including each of the big three grain producers— China, India, and the United States. These three, along with a number of other countries where water tables are falling, are home to more than half the world’s people.^[11]

Water is intrinsic to biological and economic growth, and overdraft limits its available supply. According to Liebig's law of the minimum, growth is therefore impeded.^[12] Deeper wells must be drilled as the water table drops, which can become expensive. In addition, the energy needed to extract a given volume of water increases with the amount the aquifer has been depleted. Saltwater intrusion is another consequence of overdrafting, leading to a reduction in water quality.^[13]

Possible solutions

• Artificial recharge ^[14]- Since recharge is the natural replenishment of water, artificial recharge is the artificial or man made replenishment of groundwater. This is the more aesthetically pleasing option though there is a limited amount of water that can be used for replenishing which is a problem.
• Decreased water use^[14] - This can be used in combination with the solution above. Consumptive use refers to the water that is naturally taken from the system (Ex; transpiration ). So decreasing that use is what needs to happen in areas where recharge alone will not work. It requires such things as switching to less water-intensive crops.

See also

• Groundwater recharge
• Groundwater-related subsidence
• Drinking water
• Water crisis

References

External links

• The Perils of Groundwater Pumping, Issues in Science and Technology