Groundwater depletion in California’s Central Valley accelerates during megadrought

Liu, Pang‐Wei; Famiglietti, J. S.; Purdy, A. J.; Adams, Kyra H.; McEvoy, Avery L; Reager, J. T.; Bindlish, Rajat; Wiese, D. N.; David, Cédric H.; Rodell, Matthew

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-35582-x

Cited by 51 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 61 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Specifically, Argus et al (2022) concluded that the southern SJV lost 1.5 ± 0.4 km 3 yr –1 during 2006–2021 . Similarly, Liu et al (2022) observed a decrease in groundwater storage (2.55 ± 0.60 km 3 yr –1 ) in the southern SJV over the present drought (2019–2022) . Depleted aquifers will be more sensitive to As and Se contaminant fluxes, and during droughts, any As/Se contamination imparted by produced water disposal will unlikely be diluted by mixing with meteoric or surface waters.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historic and Contemporary Surface Disposal of Produced Water Likely Inputs Arsenic and Selenium to Surficial Aquifers

Rossi

Tisherman

Jaeger

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Oil and gas development generates large amounts of wastewater (i.e., produced water), which in California has been partially disposed of in unlined percolation/evaporation ponds since the mid-20th century. Although produced water is known to contain multiple environmental contaminants (e.g., radium and trace metals), prior to 2015, detailed chemical characterizations of pondwaters were the exception rather than the norm. Using a state-run database, we synthesized samples (n = 1688) collected from produced water ponds within the southern San Joaquin Valley of California, one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, to examine regional trends in pondwater arsenic and selenium concentrations. We filled crucial knowledge gaps resulting from historical pondwater monitoring by constructing random forest regression models using commonly measured analytes (boron, chloride, and total dissolved solids) and geospatial data (e.g., soil physiochemical data) to predict arsenic and selenium concentrations in historical samples. Our analysis suggests that both arsenic and selenium levels are elevated in pondwaters and thus this disposal practice may have contributed substantial amounts of arsenic and selenium to aquifers having beneficial uses. We further use our models to identify areas where additional monitoring infrastructure would better constrain the extent of legacy contamination and potential threats to groundwater quality.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historic and Contemporary Surface Disposal of Produced Water Likely Inputs Arsenic and Selenium to Surficial Aquifers

Rossi

Tisherman

Jaeger

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Understanding the outcome of "dry wells and reduced rural water security" through the groundwater-connected systems framing. For this example, we use the setting of California's Central Valley and use a narrative approach to weave together multiple perspectives, data sources, and formats In California's Central Valley, groundwater pumping accelerates during times of drought (Liu et al 2022), further depleting groundwater resources. As this occurs, wells across the state run dry (Jasechko and Perrone 2020).…”

Section: Invigorating Groundwater Sustainability With Sustainability ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater Connections and Sustainability in Social‐Ecological Systems

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Groundwater resources are connected with social, economic, ecological, and Earth systems. We introduce the framing of groundwater-connected systems to better represent the nature and complexity of these connections in data collection, scientific investigations, governance and management approaches, and groundwater education. Groundwater-connected systems are social, economic, ecological, and Earth systems that interact with groundwater, such as irrigated agriculture, groundwater-dependent ecosystems, and cultural relationships to groundwater expressions such as springs and rivers. Groundwater-connected systems form social-ecological systems with complex behaviors such as feedbacks, nonlinear processes, multiple stable system states, and path dependency. These complex behaviors are only visible through this integrated system framing and are not endogenous properties of physical groundwater systems. The framing is syncretic as it aims to provide a common conceptual foundation for the growing disciplines of socio-hydrogeology, eco-hydrogeology, groundwater governance, and hydro-social groundwater analysis. The framing also facilitates greater alignment between the groundwater sustainability discourse and emerging sustainability concepts and principles. Aligning with these concepts and principles presents groundwater sustainability as more than a physical state to be reached; and argues that place-based and multifaceted goals, values, justice, knowledge systems, governance, and management must continually be integrated to maintain groundwater's social, ecological, and Earth system functions. The groundwater-connected systems framing can underpin a broad, methodologically pluralistic, and community-driven new wave of data collection and analysis, research, governance, management, and education. These developments, together, can invigorate efforts to foster sustainable groundwater futures in the complex systems groundwater is embedded within.

show abstract

“…During droughts, farmers and communities heavily rely on pumping groundwater to sustain agricultural operations and meet domestic water needs. Geological surveys report a dramatic decline in groundwater levels over the past 3 decades as levels are only temporarily recharged during short rainfalls but are followed by longer periods of groundwater loss during times of drought [37 ▪ ]. Media reports and the California Department of Water Resources confirm increasing rates of communities receiving drought funding for water supply challenges and reliance on bottled water in the Central Valley [38–41].…”

Section: California's Central Valleymentioning

confidence: 99%

Kidney disease hotspots and water balance in a warming world

Contreras Nieves,

Powers,

Anand

et al. 2023

Current Opinion in Nephrology &Amp; Hypertension

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose of review Geographically localized areas with a high prevalence of kidney disease exist currently in several regions of the world. Although the exact cause is unclear, environmental exposures accelerated by climate change, particularly heat exposure and ground water contamination, are hypothesized as putative risk factors. Aiming to inform investigations of water-related exposures as risk factors for kidney disease, we excavate the history of major water sources in three regions that are described as hotspots of kidney disease: the low-lying coastal regions in El Salvador and Nicaragua, the dry central region in Sri Lanka, and the Central Valley of California. Recent findings Historic data indicate that these regions have experienced water scarcity to which several human-engineered solutions were applied; these solutions could be hypothesized to increase residents’ exposure to putative kidney toxins including arsenic, fluoride, pesticides, and cyanobacteria. Combined with heat stress experienced in context of climate change, there is potential for multistressor effects on kidney function. Climate change will also amplify water scarcity, and even if regional water sources are not a direct risk factor for development of kidney disease, their scarcity will complicate the treatment of the relatively larger numbers of persons with kidney disease living in these hotspots. Summary Nephrologists and kidney disease researchers need to engage in systematic considerations of environmental exposures as potential risk factors for kidney disease, including water sources, their increasing scarcity, and threats to their quality due to changing climate.

show abstract

Groundwater depletion in California’s Central Valley accelerates during megadrought

Cited by 51 publications

References 61 publications

Historic and Contemporary Surface Disposal of Produced Water Likely Inputs Arsenic and Selenium to Surficial Aquifers

Historic and Contemporary Surface Disposal of Produced Water Likely Inputs Arsenic and Selenium to Surficial Aquifers

Groundwater Connections and Sustainability in Social‐Ecological Systems

Kidney disease hotspots and water balance in a warming world

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About