A new study published in Nature unveils alarming findings, indicating that over half of the aquifers in the United States are losing water, with about 12% experiencing accelerated collapses of underground water levels.
The impacted aquifers, vital for the U.S. food system and water supply, highlight the urgency of addressing groundwater depletion, though the study also identifies regions that have successfully reversed the trend, suggesting that with targeted interventions, the dire situation may be reversible.
Faculty experts at George Washington University are available to offer insight, analysis and commentary on the findings of the study. If you would like to speak with an expert, please contact the GW Media Relations team at [email protected].
Alicia Cooperman is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University. Her expertise includes local and global challenges in water politics and policy, political economy of development, civil society and accountability and climate change. Cooperman’s broader research agenda studies the politics of natural disasters, natural resource management, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Her work has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Political Analysis, and Comparative Political Studies, among others.
Jonathan Deason is a professor and director of the GW Environmental & Energy Management Institute. His expertise includes all aspects of air quality management, including greenhouse gas management and implications for global climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as environmental management and water resources. Deason says these findings are important because about half of all drinking water in the U.S. comes from groundwater, and some places like Long Island and San Antonio get 100% of their water from underground (wells vs reservoirs and rivers).
Caitlin Grady, assistant professor of engineering management and systems engineering, studies the form and functions of interconnected infrastructure across water, food, and energy systems. Her research seeks to combine network models, socio-technical data, and ethical-epistemic analyses to create a more sustainable and secure environment. Grady’s areas of expertise include water, food, and energy management, climate change adaptation, and infrastructure resilience.
In response to the study, Grady says: "Some reasons it's significant is that unlike political boundaries, aquifers are all different shapes, sizes, and depths. Thus, there is no unified management helping to navigate the complexities of overuse and pumping. There is a lot we don't know about and a lot we don't track so it's super hard to manage aquifers sustainably. Yet, it is very important to do so because these sources of water are critical to so many things- from agriculture to electricity, we even have many military installations dependent on groundwater wells."
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