U.S. Has Depleted Two Lake Eries' Worth Of Groundwater Since 1900Over the last century the U.S. has depleted enough of its underground freshwater supply to fill Lake Erie twice according to a new study from the U.S. Geological Survey. Here's another way to understand how much water we've used. Just between 2000 and 2008 the latest period in the study and the period of fastest depletion Americans brought enough water aboveground to contribute to 2 percent of worldwide ocean level rise in that time.We think it's serious Leonard Konikow the U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist who performed the study tells Popular Science. It's more serious in certain areas.Lowering aquifers mean less local water for the communities that depend upon them. They can also suck dry springs wetlands and other surface water features Konikow wrote in a report the survey published yesterday. Scientists don't always have a tally for how much water an aquifer holds however so it's more difficult to say what percentage of the U.S.' overall groundwater is gone. (In some systems it's difficult to determine where the bottom of the aquifer is Konikow explains.)The problem also varies in severity in different parts of the country. In the most depleted aquifers including those underneath the southern High Plains and Texas more than 50 percent of the thickness of the aquifers has been dried up Konikow says. In Alabama and Mississippi rice farmers have taken out large volumes of water but there also seems to be a lot of water left. Meanwhile two aquifers in Washington Oregon and Idaho actually held more water in 2008 than they did in 1900. Those were the only U.S. aquifers to gain water over the study period.Water collects in underground aquifers in many ways sometimes over thousands of years. When people pump it to the surface to irrigate their crops for example some of it does seep back into the Earth and into the aquifer. Rainfall and rivers all carry water back into the ground and in some areas the local government even pumps water underground in an effort to maintain their aquifers. Nevertheless those two Lake Eries' worth of water refers to how much net groundwater the U.S. has lost as people are taking it out much faster than it's going in.Konikow's report doesn't say much about what will happen to the people and industries that sit on top of depleting aquifers but a recent New York Times article offers a glimpse. On Sunday the paper reported on falling water levels in the High Plains Aquifer which lies north-south from Wyoming and South Dakota to the Texas Panhandle. In Kansas the aquifer fell by an average of 4.25 feet in 2011 and 2012. Some wells fell by as much as 30 feet. The changes mean harder times for farmers and a shift away from thirsty crops such as corn toward less water-intensive activities such as growing sorghum or ranching the Times reported. But hey lets keep fracking witch required LOTS and LOTS of water ...... sad sigh.'Wonder' do you really think that fracking accounts for this loss of water?
I'll tell you what's a far bigger factor how about 30 million illegal aliens.
And as far as the politics of 'global warming' goes...ditto.
Every liberal in the country wants to look the other way while a good percentage of this hemisphere's  3rd world is driving on our highways and still preach about 'global warming'.I believe in 50 years more of less farming and industrial use that has consumed the lakes reservoir and aquifers. My comment above is making the point the current home producing oil obsession will consume the rest of the rest of the water with fracking. I am glad you ask the question so I could my point clearer.Lack of groundwater also contributes to greater shifts during an earthquake. Throw in the fracking further loosening the underlying layers as well as oil and natural gas extraction and you have a lot of empty voids and a lot more gravels and settleable materials that could substantially collapse in an earthquake. The west coast is overdue for a 9 the east coast is also overdue for a 9. It may be 50 to 100 years before it moves but when it does there will be a change in management of underground structures.@Wonder I believe in 50 years more of less farming and industrial use that has consumed the lakes reservoir and aquifers. My comment above is making the point the current home producing oil obsession will consume the rest of the rest of the water with fracking. I am glad you ask the question so I could my point clearer.I am usually able to translate your auto-engrish but this post eludes me.Also if you are so against natural gas production / oil production you really should sell your car grow your own food make your own cloths and stop using electricity.  Otherwise you are a hypocrite.Convictus
 You just a slanderous negative closed mind whiny idiot with nothing backup with your own opinions..By responding to you is giving you to much credit lol.NEXT.@WonderYou are just a slanderous negative closed minded idiot with nothing to backup your own opinions.There fixed it.  You mad bro?  Or just unable to answer my question?Hmmm?So let's see if I have things straight.  Thanks to human activity there has been an amount of freshwater equal to the volume of 2 Lake Eries (or around 2% of the earth's total) depleted from US underground aquifers most of the freshwater contained in the polar ice caps has been released from melting most of the freshwater contained in glaciers has been released from melting and most of the freshwater in the earth's lakes and rivers has dried up.  Yet strangely the earth's sea levels have not risen enough to account for all of this lost freshwater.  So just where has it gone if the claims of global warmists are to be believed?@Riff Raff*LOL* How do YOU know the seas haven't risen accordingly? Are you a scientist who studies these things?Water scarcity and climate change/global warming are in their infancy. I know it's easier to stick your head in the sand and convince yourself (or allow yourself to be convinced) that a dark future does not await us but I think as the decades persist the consequences of our actions as a species will become increasingly apparent and threatening if not catastrophic.In this moment you can call me a global warmist or misinformed idiot or what have you...only time will tell the truth. I do know one thing for certain: if the global warmists are wrong we do nothing about global warming everything's okay. But if we are right and do nothing: widespread social/economical/political/environmental collapse.Here's a good documentary on global water supply: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjOn2THsQZgAnd IPCC's FAQ on climate change:
www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg/en/faqs.htmlAnd any other questions you might have:
www.grist.org/series/skeptics/