SACRAMENTO – Groundwater levels are on the decline worldwide and one of the areas seeing the biggest change is right here in our own backyard.
A study in Journal Nature found groundwater levels are decreasing from the Sacramento Valley to the Central Valley at a rapid pace over the last four decades.
Scott Jasechko, co-author of the study and assistant professor of water resources with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara, said he and his colleagues analyzed measurements from over 170,000 wells in more than 40 countries.
“If we continue doing what we are doing, things may get worse before they get better,” Jasechko said.
The study showed that parts of California have some of the fastest declining aquifer levels in the world. Areas south of Stanislaus County through portions of Southern California in the Kaweah Basin and in the Colusa Basin near Woodland are some of the places on the list.