Water storage and all that fun stuff is nice, but if we are taking away more water than we receive in precipitation, then we are going to have to come up with some other solutions. And, according to some new data, the Central Valley may be on its way to becoming a desert.
New space observations reveal that since October 2003, the aquifers for California's primary agricultural region -- the Central Valley -- and its major mountain water source -- the Sierra Nevada -- have lost nearly enough water combined to fill Lake Mead, America's largest reservoir. The findings, based on satellite data, reflect California's extended drought and increased pumping of groundwater for human uses such as irrigation. (Science Daily)
To be more precise, the research team estimates that the Central Valley has lost more than 30 cubic kilometers of water, with a cubic kilometers roughly equivalent to the volume of 400,000 Olympic swimming pools. In other words, a very large amount of water.
Most of that water loss, over 3.5 cubic km/year, is from the Southern Central Valley. The region gets far less rainfall, and sees far more pumping for crops than the northern region of the Valley.
So, while additional storage might be necessary, we are going to have to come up with some way of reducing usage. Whether that is allowing more fields to lie fallow, or to change crops to less thirsty plants, the current usage pattern is not sustainable. |
