Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Even in wet years, why are California’s wells still dry?
After abundant rain and moderate snowfall this year in the northern half of the state, California’s largest reservoirs are holding more than 120% of their historical average. But underground, the state’s supply of water for drinking and irrigating crops remains depleted. Even after multiple wet winters, and despite a state law that’s supposed to protect and restore the state’s precious groundwater, thousands of wells — mostly in rural, low-income communities in the San Joaquin Valley — have gone dry because of over-pumping by growers. So why hasn’t the recent bounty of rain and snow replenished the state’s underground supplies?
Other water supply news:
- The Guardian (London): California faces worsening drought despite recent heavy rainstorms
- Newsweek: California gets warning about water supply
- Public Policy Institute of California: Blog: How February’s atmospheric rivers affected California’s water supply
- Western Water Rewind: California Water Agencies Hoped A Deluge Would Recharge Their Aquifers. But When It Came, Some Couldn’t Use It
