The Water Crisis

Although it]s editorial stance sometimes make me cringe, the New York Times continues to publish deeply researched (and sometimes deeply disturbing) articles that require deep pockets and a large pool of journalists. The latest looks at what the times is calling "the water crisis" – the increasing depletion and pollution of groundwater in the United States. (paywall-free link)

From their Climate Forward newsletter:

One of the startling things about the climate crisis is just how quickly we’ve brought it upon ourselves. In a relatively short period of time — just 150 years or so — humans have dramatically heated up the planet, ushering in the Anthropocene.

A similarly rapid transformation is taking place beneath our feet. The aquifers that supply 90 percent of America’s water systems are being damaged and depleted by industrial farms and urbanization. Reserves of groundwater that took eons to form are drying up in a matter of years. Cities and farms are running short on water. And experts say it could take centuries or millenniums for some of these aquifers to replenish themselves, if they recover at all.

Over the past several months, The Times analyzed water levels at tens of thousands of sites and arrived at a dire conclusion: Almost half of the sites have seen significant declines over the past 40 years, and last year was the worst yet.

In the first part of a new series on the water crisis, my colleagues Mira Rojanasakul, Christopher Flavelle, Blacki Migliozzi and Eli Murray took a sweeping look at the depletion of groundwater across the country. They found corn yields plummeting in parts of Kansas, drinking water running short in Long Island and cities unable to grow in Arizona.

Fair warning: reading this article may cause sleepless nights.