First the Drought drying up reservoirs, Now the Western States may lose their groundwater too!

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment

A new study by NASA and University of California, Irvine, scientists finds more than 75 percent of the water loss in the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin since late 2004 came from underground resources. The extent of groundwater loss may pose a greater threat to the water supply of the western United States than previously thought.

Monthly measurements of the change in water mass from December 2004 to November 2013 revealed the basin lost nearly 53 million acre feet of freshwater, almost double the volume of the nation's largest reservoir, Nevada's Lake Mead.

More than three-quarters of the total -- about 41 million acre feet -- was from groundwater.

We've all seen the pictures coming out Calf and AZ... dried up lakes, empty river beds... the photo of lake Mead above...scary when you think about the some 50 odd million people who depend on that water...

Yes seeing it would your own eyes is all you need to tell ya all it's bad...

and then we get this on top of.

Stephanie Castle, a water resources specialist at the University of California, Irvine said "We don't know exactly how much groundwater we have left, so we don't know when we're going to run out,"

today , tomorrow, maybe by the time you read this or not for a few more decades. they just don't know and that is a scary prospect since they rely more on well's and groundwater then they do the lakes and rivers in most places there.

I have heard they are limiting water in that area. California being one of the main bread-basket states of the USA, this should be a concern. Why are there not more desalinization plants in that area? I'm guessing that even if they had a bunch of desalinization plants, that it would still not be enough to serve all the people and the wasted grass lawns.

Something that has always disturbed me in the USA is using the millions of gallons of water that people waste on "watering" their lawn so it stays a "lush" green. What good is that grass? Nothing eats the clippings, unless the mower is turning it into mulch. If each lawn were a food garden! Society may learn too late. Where are all the people going to go? How will the poor be able to escape? Greyhound? Reading the types of news articles that have come out about this area and the Great Lakes in Michigan (China Water), it makes me realize there are more and LESS prudent places to live in the USA.

How long until they exclusively take all rights to water away in the states that need it? No matter how you slice this, it doesn't look good for humanity...

a reply to: InFriNiTee

here's what this story is telling us


Since February 21, the water has dropped nearly 30 feet, putting the largest reservoir in the country at only 39 percent capacity. and that lake provides water to cities such as Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Diego---

That we knew... and knowing how deep the lake is now tells us how much water is left...

here's what we didn't know...75% of that water loss happened under ground... and what we don't know is how much water was there in the first place...you right in saying.... it doesn't look good for humanity... at least not for those living in that far SW corner of the nation.

Its my understanding Nestles Co. continues to pump water on the Mo rongo reservation. Why is that continuing?

a reply to: boorabbit

here's what I want to know....

I live in Colorado--- and this winter was one of record snowpack... here, where I am, we were 110% over normal, further north they were 150, 165% above... we even had flooding because of the high temps and rapid runoff...

Soooo... what happed to all that water between leaving my place and getting way down there????

We all need to find out where it is going

originally posted by: boorabbit
Its my understanding Nestles Co. continues to pump water on the Mo rongo reservation. Why is that continuing?

yes i heard that also.Will have to research that a bit more..

www.mintpressnews.com...

a reply to: switchqm8

While that is all kinds of complete crazypants, bottling companies can't be responsible for all of this shortage... I think the main culprit is still at large.

*cough* UNDERGROUND ALIEN BASES OKAY I SAID IT *cough*

What?

To paraphrase the late comedian Sam Kinison (on his bit about world hunger): ". . . there wouldn't be this problem if you people would live where the FOOD/WATER IS!!! YOU LIVE IN A FREAKING DESERT!! See, look at this. This is sand. NOTHING IS GOING TO GROW OUT HERE!! "

CA, AZ, NM, NV - are deserts (except of course for the mountain areas) and there is only so much water to go around. The population is now too great and the consumption of water is exceeding the available supply (especially in the prolonged drought). People have been cutting back water use, replacing lawns with dirt, etc., but it all will be for nothing if the west continues to build thousands of new buildings, neighborhoods and golf courses.

originally posted by: HardCorps
a reply to: boorabbit

here's what I want to know....

I live in Colorado--- and this winter was one of record snowpack... here, where I am, we were 110% over normal, further north they were 150, 165% above... we even had flooding because of the high temps and rapid runoff...

Soooo... what happed to all that water between leaving my place and getting way down there????

That's surface water. The aquifer is several hundred feet below the surface and it takes decades, even centuries, for water to percolate down to that level. Especially with the advent of pivot irrigation, we've been pumping more each year from those aquifers, and doing so at a rate faster than nature can replenish it. For years now wells in the West have been going dry and either abandoned or drilled ever deeper. The aquifers under the USA do not represent an inexhaustible supply. We should be looking closely at what Middle Eastern nations are doing with desalinization plants. Desalinization is expensive, but the alternative is starvation.

It doesn't help that the green movement in those states (especially California) has been all about restoring the natural watershed so many dams have been broken down in the name of allowing the water to run off emptying reservoirs that were obviously created for a reason, and now we're starting to see it.

Also there are simply too many people out there. Not that I want any of them in my neck of the woods, and I don't think any of them want to live here anyhow. They can just pick up and move to NYC and the rest of the Blue East Coast. After all, there's nothing out here in flyover.