Earth’s Aquifers Depleting

Human activity is leading to the rapid draining of important underground water reserves.

The findings released in the Water Resources Research journal on Tuesday looked at 37 of the Earth’s biggest aquifers between 2003 and 2013. Eight of these were classified as “overstressed,” meaning they were being sucked dry with almost no natural replenishment to offset the usage. Five other aquifers were determined to be “extremely or highly stressed.” The world’s most overstressed source is the Arabian Aquifer System, which provides water for 60 million people in the Middle East.

In drought-stricken California, the Central Valley aquifer was labeled as “highly stressed.” However, the study also concluded that detection methods must advance before rates of groundwater depletion can be fully known.