January 2003 - December 2013JPEG

About one third of Earth’s large groundwater basins are being rapidly depleted
by human consumption even though we have scarce and inaccurate data
about how much water remains in them, according to two new studies
published in June 2015 in Water Resources Research. This means significant
segments of Earth’s population are consuming groundwater without knowing
when it might run out.
“Groundwater is currently the primary source of freshwater for approximately
two billion people,” the researchers wrote. “Despite its importance, knowledge
on the state of large groundwater systems is limited as compared to surface
water, largely because the cost and complexity of monitoring large aquifer
systems is often prohibitive.”
The map above shows the annual change in groundwater storage from 2003
to 2013 in the 37 largest aquifer systems in the world. Basins shown in
shades of brown have had more water extracted in the study years than could
be naturally replenished; basins in blue saw increases in underground water
storage, perhaps due to changes in precipitation, ice or permafrost melting, or
changes in surface water.
The study was partly based on data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate
Experiment (GRACE), a pair of satellites that flies in close formation and
measures small changes in mass and gravity near Earth’s surface. Water has
mass and exerts a gravitational tug; GRACE observes those signals in ways
that allow scientists to follow the movement of water—including groundwater
—around the planet. The studies also included data from ground-based
sources (such as national statistics on water extraction) and models of
groundwater extraction and storage. The analysis was conducted by scientists
from the University of California, Irvine, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the
National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Taiwan University, and
the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The multidisciplinary research team found that 13 of Earth’s 37 largest
aquifers are being depleted while receiving little to no recharge. Eight were
classified as “overstressed,” with almost no natural replenishment to offset
usage, while the other five were found to be highly stressed, with that rate of
extraction far exceeding the little bit of natural replenishment. Climate change
and population growth are expected to intensify the problem.