Outreach, Data, and Codes

 September 2023: New York Times features our U.S. Aquifer Database, highlighting groundwater depletion across the United States

"One of the biggest obstacles is that the depletion of this unseen yet essential natural resource is barely regulated." The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/28/climate/groundwater-drying-climate-change.html 

Hydrogeologic cross-section in Big Bear Valley, Southcentral California

Source: Modified after Supplementary Information. Supplementary Note 3.  Section 3.47 of Thaw et al., 2022.

Modern groundwater reaches deeper depths in heavily pumped aquifer systems

The widespread and increasing trend to access fossil groundwater is manifested by the increasing trend of taping fossil groundwater over time across U.S. aquifers. This is critical because this helps to understand fossil groundwater quantity and quality-related management issue and help to sustain the current and future water demand.

https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2022/020722/slurping-groundwater 

Selected vertical sections (hundreds of meters below the land surface) of aquifer system across the United States.

Source: Supplementary Information. Supplementary Fig. 9 of GebreEgziabher et al., 2022.

Widespread and increased drilling of wells into fossil aquifers in the USA

The widespread and increasing trend to access fossil groundwater is manifested by the increasing trend of taping fossil groundwater over time across U.S. aquifers. This is critical because this helps to understand fossil groundwater quantity and quality related managements issue and helps to sustain the current and future water demand.

https://dailynexus.com/2022-04-23/campus-point-new-and-exciting-research-at-ucsb-12/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=campus-point-new-and-exciting-research-at-ucsb-12 

U.S. broader aquifer systems. Selected expansive broader aquifer systems are represented by pinkish colors with black color outline and labels.

Source: Supplementary Information. Supplementary Note 8 of GebreEgziabher et al., 2022.

U.S. Aquifer Database (HydroShare)

The database contains 440 polygons, each representing one study area with both (1) an aquifer system title and (2) a broader aquifer system title. The story map for this aquifer database can be found via U.S. Aquifer Database. The resource can be downloaded via HydroShare. 

https://www.hydroshare.org/resource/d2260651b51044d0b5cb2d293d21af08/