India’s aquifer depletion poses serious threats in potable water supplies, farming and food production.
A new study by a team of hydrologists, led by NASA’s Matt Rodell, says Northern India’s water level is plunging because water is being pumped and consumed faster than the aquifers can be recharged naturally. Their research — published in the August 20 issue of Nature — uses data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE).
The map shows groundwater changes in India during 2002-08, with losses in red and gains in blue, based on GRACE satellite observations. The estimated rate of depletion of groundwater in northwestern India is 4.0 centimeters of water per year, equivalent to a water table decline of 33 centimeters per year. Increases in groundwater in southern India are due to recent above-average rainfall, whereas rain in northwestern India was close to normal during the study period. Credit: I. Velicogna/UC Irvine. Source: NASA Earth Science News.
“If measures are not taken to ensure sustainable groundwater usage, consequences for the 114 million residents of the region may include a collapse of agricultural output and severe shortages of potable water,” said Rodell.
For more details, see original entry: India faces severe water, farming, food crisis
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