Researchers from Arizona State University used two decades of NASA satellite data to track changes in the amount of stored freshwater in aquifers, lakes, rivers, glaciers and ice sheets around the globe.
They found the Southwest U.S. – including Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Nevada, Colorado, Utah and California – has lost massive amounts of groundwater. That’s due to overpumping by cities and farmers and persistent drought.
The lower Colorado River Basin alone has lost groundwater equal to the full capacity of Lake Mead, which is about 28 million acre-feet of water, according to the study, published in the journal Science Advances.
Jay Fagmiglietti, a study co-author and Global Futures Professor at Arizona State’s School of Sustainability, said the region’s freshwater loss could have major ripple effects.
“Can't grow the same amount of food, and grow the population, and have all the data centers and chip manufacturers all at the same time,” he said. “That can't happen anymore. We need to really be thinking about our priorities when we think about how we allocate water.”
The groundwater loss accelerated after 2015 as drought, heat and human demand combined to push the region into what researchers call a “mega-drying” state.
Fagmiglietti said that without concerted conservation efforts and changes in groundwater policy, Southwestern farmers will struggle to produce food in the years ahead.
“We tend to think about water for drinking and water for cities, but most of the water we use is to grow food,” he continued. “So, in the Southwest, it's going to put a lot of pressure on food production.”
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
