California Drought May be Causing the Land to Sink by 2 Inches Per Month

The California drought is continuing to wreak havoc across the state. Now, though, researchers have found that as residents continue pumping groundwater, the land is actually sinking faster than ever before--nearly 2 inches per month in some locations.

"Because of increased pumping, groundwater levels are reaching record lows-up to 100 feet lower than previous records," said Mark Cowin, Department of Water Resources director, in a news release. "As extensive groundwater pumping continues, the land is sinking more rapidly and this puts nearby infrastructure at greater risk of costly damage."

Sinking land has occurred for decades in California. This is largely due to excessive groundwater pumping during drought conditions. The new NASA data shows, though, that the sinking is happening faster than ever, putting infrastructure on the surface at growing risk of damage.

NASA actually obtained subsidence data by comparing satellite images of Earth's surface over time. Over the last few years, interferometric synthetic aperture radar observations from satellite and aircraft platforms have been used to produce maps of sinking land with approximately centimeter-level accuracy.

The researchers actually produced time histories of the sinking land, also known as subsidence, at various locations, as well as profiles showing how this sink varies over space and time.

"Subsidence is directly impacting the California Aqueduct, and this NASA technology is ideal for identifying which areas are subsiding the most in order to focus monitoring and repair efforts," said Cathleen Jones, study co-author. "Knowledge is power, and in this case knowledge can save water and help the state better maintain this critical element of the state's water delivery system."

For more information about the report, you can check it out online.

Related Stories

Record California Drought May be Killing Giant Sequoias

California Drought 2015: What's Causing It and What Climate Shift May Break It

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).