Ground water is a very important water source that is typically accessed via wells. Many people get their water from lakes and rivers, including public supplies, but some areas are strictly limited to well water. You may be thinking, who cares? Right? Well there is an interesting thing happening in parts of the United States right now. Scientists are noticing a reduction in ground water levels in Minnesota, for example.
Again, why is this important? The interesting thing about this is that ground water supplies are typically replenished by annual rainfall, but in recent years this hasn’t been the case. Areas like California have been in the news as of late because of the droughts they’ve had to deal with, but these droughts have had a major impact on their ground water supplies. During a drought, exposed water supplies dry up. Therefore, whoever draws water from lakes and rivers may run into problems. But when this happens, these areas switch over to accessing ground water sources until the drought ends. However, in the mentioned areas, this has become a compound issue because despite normal or increased annual rainfall, ground water supplies are not being replenished. How is this possible?
It’s a lot more simple than you may expect, and perhaps more concerning. The time when rain falls is critical, and for these areas of the country (Minnesota, California, Texans and New Mexico) the time when the rain normally falls has shifted.
In a part of the world where we have the luxury of experiencing distinct seasons, its common to experience quite a bit of rain in the spring, and a fair amount in the fall. This timing was critical because of temperature – presumably. It’s still fairly cool in the spring and fall which allows rain to run into cracks and seep into aquifers, replenishing ground water stores. However, now that these areas have experienced a shift that has led to a majority of the rain falling in the summer, the temperature of the ground is causing a vast amount of the water to evaporate or get sucked up by plant life, before it can seep anywhere.
This means that so long as this trend remains, people are going to continue to draw on ground water sources for things like farming, rather than nearby water sources because at the time of year these sources are needed most, they’ve dried up. And when the rain does come, very little goes to replenishing anything. It’s becoming a real issue.
It’s a scary situation that may or may not last, depending on the climate shift. This could be temporary, but it could also simply shift and just start affecting another part of the country instead. Since fresh water is a non-renewable resource, it’s becoming a pressing concern for many people, continent wide. One thing that is certain is that there is simply not enough data available yet to determine how bad it is, how bad it will get, and what we can do about.
One thing you can know is where the ground water is before you drill for it. Drilling a dry well is costly. You pay for the drilling whether or not water is found. Using state-of-the-art equipment, American Water Surveyors saves you time and money by locating your best groundwater sources. Contact us at the numbers or email below to learn more.
Contact American Water Surveyors at:
Call: 877-SEISMO1 (734-7661) or 817-788-5716
Fax: 817-210-4225
Email: [email protected]
