The spotlight may have been on California this past summer, but groundwater reservoirs often the back-up for surface water supplies during prolonged drought are in decline across much of the southern United States. Meanwhile, people are using millions of gallons of water per day in regions dependent on groundwater aquifers. The map shows a satellite-based estimate of the change in the amount of water stored in aquifers per year across the United States from 2003-2012. Areas where the storage rate increased are shades of blue while areas where the water storage decreased are shades of brown.
The dots indicate counties where water use exceeded 60 millions of gallons per day or more as of 2005, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey. The estimates of water use account for public supply, domestic, irrigation, livestock, aquaculture, industrial, mining, and thermoelectric power water use. Increases and decreases in the amount of water stored in U.S. aquifers is influenced both by the rate of recharge from snow melt and rainfall as well as demand from pumping and natural withdrawals. Some of the counties where groundwater use was highest experienced declines over the past decade, but other areas with high use saw an increase in water storage.
Original working URL: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/groundwater-declines-across-us-south-over-past-decade
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