Unsustainable Groundwater Use Research Articles

SEAWAT Scenarios Evaluating Links between the Southern Gabès (TN) Confined Aquifer and the Mediterranean Sea

The southern Gabès aquifer in southeastern Tunisia faces significant stress due to unsustainable groundwater extraction. This study employs a SEAWAT model to evaluate groundwater losses, salinization mechanisms, and the interaction between the confined aquifer and the Mediterranean Sea. The model, incorporating well pumping rates, regional freshwater inflows from the Matmata Mountain Range, and the Mediterranean Sea boundary, demonstrated high accuracy in simulating hydraulic heads. Findings reveal that regional inflow is only half of the current pumping rate, indicating unsustainable groundwater use. The study also assessed salinity dynamics by modeling the Mediterranean Sea as a constant head and salinity boundary. Results suggest limited exchange between the aquifer and the sea, challenging previous assumptions. While the immediate risks of salinization are low, continued over-extraction could compromise the aquifer’s long-term sustainability. This research highlights the need for stricter local groundwater management, offers insights into regional coastal aquifer interactions, and contributes to global discussions on managing stressed aquifer systems.

Reducing the true cost of food-based safety nets: evidence from India’s subsidized food program

Public procurement of food plays a pivotal role in determining the production and consumption of various food items. This is particularly true for staple grains in countries such as India, where the government procures over 40% of rice and wheat. This grain is redistributed to approximately 60% of India’s population through the public distribution system (PDS), the national food-based safety net. Although the PDS plays a critical role in ensuring food security for millions of beneficiaries, there is scope for reducing the hidden costs associated with the production of PDS food grain. As costs such as unsustainable use of groundwater and subsidies for power and fertilizers are not accounted for in the ‘financial’ cost of the program, we use true cost accounting to identify, quantify, and monetize these hidden costs associated with the PDS. In 2021–22, the Indian government and PDS beneficiaries spent US$16.5 billion and US$0.9 billion, respectively, on the PDS. However, accounting for hidden costs associated with the production of PDS food grain reveals that the true cost of the PDS is more than twice its financial cost. Using true cost estimates of distributing rice, wheat, and millets through the PDS, we find that replacing one kg of rice with one kg of millets for a quarter of PDS beneficiaries every month has the potential to reduce the true cost of the PDS by US$1.37 billion annually.

HESS Opinions: The unsustainable use of groundwater conceals a “Day Zero”

Abstract. Water scarcity is a pressing global issue driven by increasing water demands and changing climate conditions. Based on novel estimates of water availability and water use in Chile, we examine the challenges and risks associated with groundwater (GW) withdrawals in the country's central-north region (27–35° S), where extreme water stress conditions prevail. As total water use within a basin approaches the renewable freshwater resources, the dependence on GW reserves intensifies in unsustainable ways. This overuse has consequences that extend beyond mere resource depletion, manifesting into environmental degradation, societal conflict, and economic costs. We argue that the “Day Zero” scenario, often concealed by the uncertain attributes of GW resources, calls for a reconsideration of water allocation rules and a broader recognition of the long-term implications of unsustainable GW use. Our results offer insights for regions worldwide facing similar water scarcity challenges and emphasize the importance of proactive and sustainable water management strategies.

Why Do Farmers Over-Extract Groundwater Resources? Assessing (Un)sustainable Behaviors Using an Integrated Agent-Centered Framework

This study uses an Integrated Agent-Centered (IAC) framework to investigate the socio-psychological drivers of Iranian farmers’ unsustainable groundwater management practices. Empirical land use change analysis of US Geological Survey Landsat satellite images of the Jaz-Murian wetland region for 1990, 2010, and 2022, is combined with community surveys conducted with randomly selected farmers in five townships within the region (n = 356). Visual analysis reveals dramatic increases in agricultural land coverage, diminished water bodies, and increased salt lands over the 32-year sampled period. We use survey data to explain the socio-psychological drivers of unsustainable groundwater use that lead to these adverse environmental changes. In the IAC survey analysis, we find that variables for “expectation” and “subjective culture” have a negative influence on pro-environmental “intention”. “Intention” and “habit” have a positive influence and “contextual factors” have a negative influence on the drivers of “unsustainable water use behavior”. We conclude that situational influences, habitual process, intentional process, and normative processes must be considered together to alleviate pressure on wetland ecosystems. Policy makers must provide effective agricultural extension training, deliberative dialogue amongst farmer networks, well-governed local water markets and financial support to shift farmer short-termist economic gain-thinking towards socially-supported pro-environmental habits over the longer term.

City‐Level Virtual Groundwater Flows in Northern China and the Effect of Agricultural Relocation on Alleviating Groundwater Scarcity

AbstractNorth China faces severe groundwater overdraft because of unsustainable groundwater use. However, consumers of local groundwater have rarely been precisely delineated. As such, identifying external consumers of groundwater‐intensive products may promote targeted policies from the consumption side, especially for the most water‐scarce Beijing‐Tianjin‐Hebei (BTH) metropolitan area, which has important links to food security and groundwater overdraft across North China. In this study, we revealed the prefecture city‐level virtual groundwater flows in the BTH region for, to our knowledge, the first time by compiling a nested multiregional input‐output table with 13 BTH cities and 28 Chinese provinces outside BTH in 2012. Our results showed that >50% of groundwater use in BTH cities was driven by agricultural supply for outside provinces, significantly exceeding the local demand of 38.8%. In addition, we simulated different scenarios that focused on redistributing the original agricultural production of the BTH region to other northern provinces. We found that these redistribution strategies would lead to 13%–67% groundwater savings relative to total groundwater use in the BTH region in 2012. Moreover, our results also indicated that BTH cities would save groundwater under higher stress in exchange for increased groundwater use in provinces under lower stress. These findings can be utilized to optimize the agricultural distribution and groundwater conservation policies in other regions or countries facing agriculture‐induced groundwater overdraft issues.

The impact of climate change, population growth and development on sustainable water security in Bangladesh to 2100

There are concerns that groundwater use for irrigation and for urban water supply is unsustainable in some parts of Bangladesh, particularly in the agriculturally productive northwest region. We use an integrated population – GDP – food – water model to examine water demand to 2100 in Bangladesh in development scenarios relevant to food and water security. The results indicate that irrigation water demand is projected to increase in coming decades, but later in the century it may decrease due to increasing crop yields and a falling population. The increased demand is greatest in the northwest region and, if unchecked, would increase concerns there about the unsustainable use of groundwater. The growth in demand is determined particularly by growth in crop yields, population growth and the fraction of food demand satisfied by imports. An extreme hot-dry climate change scenario has a lesser impact. This suggests that, in principle, Bangladesh can offset the impacts of climate change on irrigation water demand through its domestic policies. Urban water use currently also leads to concerns over unsustainable groundwater use. Our results suggest that urban water demand is likely to grow proportionately significantly more than irrigation water demand. Alternative sources for urban water are therefore urgently required.

Interrelations of vegetation growth and water scarcity in Iran revealed by satellite time series

Iran has experienced a drastic increase in water scarcity in the last decades. The main driver has been the substantial unsustainable water consumption of the agricultural sector. This study quantifies the spatiotemporal dynamics of Iran’s hydrometeorological water availability, land cover, and vegetation growth and evaluates their interrelations with a special focus on agricultural vegetation developments. It analyzes globally available reanalysis climate data and satellite time series data and products, allowing a country-wide investigation of recent 20+ years at detailed spatial and temporal scales. The results reveal a wide-spread agricultural expansion (27,000 km^2) and a significant cultivation intensification (48,000 km^2). At the same time, we observe a substantial decline in total water storage that is not represented by a decrease of meteorological water input, confirming an unsustainable use of groundwater mainly for agricultural irrigation. As consequence of water scarcity, we identify agricultural areas with a loss or reduction of vegetation growth (10,000 km^2), especially in irrigated agricultural areas under (hyper-)arid conditions. In Iran’s natural biomes, the results show declining trends in vegetation growth and land cover degradation from sparse vegetation to barren land in 40,000 km^2, mainly along the western plains and foothills of the Zagros Mountains, and at the same time wide-spread greening trends, particularly in regions of higher altitudes. Overall, the findings provide detailed insights in vegetation-related causes and consequences of Iran’s anthropogenic drought and can support sustainable management plans for Iran or other semi-arid regions worldwide, often facing similar conditions.

Alternative cropping systems and optimized management practices for saving groundwater and enhancing economic and environmental sustainability

Rapid decline in groundwater table due to excessive withdrawal of water for irrigation has been posing a serious threat to sustainable agricultural production in hot arid region of India. Alternative cropping systems having low irrigation requirement have been proposed to resolve unsustainable groundwater use but trade-off with other dimensions such as yield, profitability, and environmental impacts is not well-documented. An integrated analysis of amount of groundwater use, productivity, profitability, resource-use efficiency (RUE), and environmental impacts of three cluster bean-based cropping systems [conventional cluster bean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba)–wheat (Triticum aestivum) (CB–W), and two alternative cropping systems, namely cluster bean-Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) (CB–IM) and cluster bean–blond psyllium (Plantago ovata) (CB–BP)] under different soil management practices [two tillage types, i.e., conventional (CT), and deep tillage (DT); and three farmyard manure (FYM) application rates, i.e., 0, 5, 10 Mg ha-1] was carried out. Based on a three-year field experiment, compared to conventional CB–W, alternative cropping systems produced 28.6–47.4 % lower seed yield, but enhanced economic returns (7.6–31.1 %), while reduced amount of irrigation (− 27.9 to − 37.2 %), energy (− 22.4 to − 37.0 %), and nutrient (− 17.4 to − 46.1 %) used, global warming potential (− 20.2 to − 45.9 %) and greenhouse gas intensity (− 27.3 to − 57.7 %). Alternative cropping systems saved 1.87–2.50 × 103 m3 per year per hectare of groundwater than conventional cropping systems. Soil management practices influenced agro-economic and environmental dimensions of cropping systems. Deep tillage (DT) enhanced yield (14.0 %), economic profit (18.8 %), RUE (13.2 %, 13.8 % and 8.5 % for nutrient, water and energy use efficiency, respectively). Addition of FYM increased yield (up to 23.0 %), economic net return (up to 21.8 %), RUE (up to 22.7 %, 16.5 %, 91.0 % in water, energy and nutrient use efficiency), and reduced global warming potential (up to − 7.9 %). The CB-BP cropping system with DT and FYM addition offered the best balance of yield, profit, saving of irrigation water, energy and nutrient, while minimizing GWP. This study provides empirical evidence of the opportunities for alternative cropping systems which balance the multiple objectives of sustainable groundwater use, farmer profitability and environmental sustainability for arid region of India. The results have direct implications for sustainable utilization of underground water for similar regions of the world facing water shortage.

Wastelanding Arabia: America's ‘Garden of Eden’ in Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia

In the late 1930s, the American oil company Aramco helped Saudi Arabia's King Ibn Saud develop his royal farm outside Riyadh. On the king's request, Aramco introduced new technology to tap the Al Kharj region's rich aquifer water and establish vast fields of wheat, alfalfa, and other water-intensive crops. Saudi Arabia's aquifers have since been pumped dry in service of the ‘Garden of Eden’ idyll promised by American advocates, who boasted of their ability to reclaim thousands of acres of ‘desert wasteland.’ This article draws on Traci Voyles' formulation of ‘wastelanding’ to interrogate the agricultural spectacle of Al Kharj in the 1930s–50s. The project was an early exemplar what came to be an established pattern of wastelanding Arabia, built on the unsustainable use of groundwater and social inequalities to create an ‘Eden’ in the desert. Agricultural wastelanding has unique spatial and temporal dimensions that set it apart from other extractive industries, like the uranium mining that Voyles examines in Diné lands. But as this article shows, desert greening projects draw on and produce similar structures of social and environmental violence – with America's ‘Garden of Eden’ in central Arabia being just one case among many of wastelanding across space and time.

Tracking hidden crisis in India\u2019s capital from space: implications of unsustainable groundwater use

National Capital Region (NCR, Delhi) in India is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan cities which is facing a severe water crisis due to increasing water demand. The over-extraction of groundwater, particularly from its unconsolidated alluvial deposits makes the region prone to subsidence. In this study, we investigated the effects of plummeting groundwater levels on land surface elevations in Delhi NCR using Sentinel-1 datasets acquired during the years 2014–2020. Our analysis reveals two distinct subsidence features in the study area with rates exceeding 11 cm/year in Kapashera—an urban village near IGI airport Delhi, and 3 cm/year in Faridabad throughout the study period. The subsidence in these two areas are accelerating and follows the depleting groundwater trend. The third region, Dwarka shows a shift from subsidence to uplift during the years which can be attributed to the strict government policies to regulate groundwater use and incentivizing rainwater harvesting. Further analysis using a classified risk map based on hazard risk and vulnerability approach highlights an approximate area of 100 square kilometers to be subjected to the highest risk level of ground movement, demanding urgent attention. The findings of this study are highly relevant for government agencies to formulate new policies against the over-exploitation of groundwater and to facilitate a sustainable and resilient groundwater management system in Delhi NCR.

The Green Revolution from space: Mapping the historic dynamics of main rice types in one of the world's food bowls

This paper develops a methodology to map the two main rice types in northwest Bangladesh from 1989 to 2016, when Green Revolution technologies and policies resulted in a 300% rice area expansion and localised unsustainable groundwater use. The mapping is performed for the largely irrigated dry season Boro rice (grown from November/December to May/June), and the largely rainfed Aman rice (grown from June/July to October/November).The petabyte archive of Landsat reflectance data available via Google Earth Engine is used to extract monthly time-series of two remotely sensed vegetation indices – the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and the Global Vegetation Moisture Index (GVMI) – which can capture crop phenological dynamics as they correlate during crop growth stages and can be used to discriminate standing water when EVI is low and GVMI is high. This feature is exploited to detect the effects of flooding before transplanting Boro rice in January and to capture the late phenological phases of Aman rice through harvesting months (October to November).A gap-filled and smoothed EVI and GVMI monthly time-series sequences for both rice cropping months are grouped using machine learning unsupervised K-means clustering into clusters (25 used here), and manually aggregated using crop calendars and local expert knowledge into rice types, other vegetated areas, water, non-permanent water and bare areas. A representative subset of these data are then used to construct a training sample using additional covariates besides the monthly EVI and GVMI values and train a Random Forest (RF) model capable of predicting the land cover types in other years.The resulting RF maps for the two cropping seasons were evaluated against publicly available survey crop statistics (from 1989 to 2016) and published Boro 30 m resolution maps for 2013 to 2016. The maps provide qualitative evidence that unsustainable groundwater extractions can be linked to Boro rice irrigation in some parts of northwest Bangladesh. Further research, using these maps and other hydrological data, is required to quantitatively assess when, where, and how much irrigation contributes to unsustainable groundwater use. The results show that the methodology can accurately (generally within 20% absolute error) capture Boro and Aman rice over the Green Revolution period, and other landscape dynamic characteristics of importance for environmental assessments, such as areas of standing water.

Managing groundwater for building resilience for sustainable agriculture in South Asia

AbstractSouth Asia's heavy reliance on groundwater for irrigated agricultural production supports the livelihoods of tens of millions of smallholder farmers but is being undermined by rampant overexploitation of groundwater. Without major intervention, this is expected to be further exacerbated by growing demand and climate change. Groundwater management, scientific and evidence‐based, can make an important contribution to managing unsustainable groundwater use and strengthening the climate resilience of farmers due to groundwater's unique storage characteristics. This study brings together a set of strategies and solutions to better manage groundwater that cover the augmentation of groundwater recharge through managed aquifer recharge, management of groundwater demand through participatory groundwater management and other methods, and the harnessing synergies of co‐dependent sectors. The opportunities, constraints and available evidence for each are analysed and the boundaries, barriers and specificities identified to establish entry points for positive change through policies and implementation programmes.

Groundwater Decline and Prolonged Drought Could Reduce Vigour, Enhance Vulnerability to Diseases and Pests and Kill Perennial Horticultural Crops: Needs Urgent Policy Intervention

Perennial horticulture in India has undergone a change from rainfed system to drip fertigation systems and from isolated hedge and bund trees to high intensity orchard systems with enhanced number of trees per unit area. In several parts, particularly in the Deccan plateau, the system has now become completely dependent on water pumped from tube wells. Severe competition for water from tube wells makes farmers to devote more water for cash rich annual crops and even sell water for city dwellers nearby. As a consequence, the groundwater level in the past three decades has fallen from few feet to above thousand feet. At several places it has crossed the “peak water”. Frequent and prolonged exposure of fruit trees and nuts to drought coupled with ground water depletion has led to soil profile drying leading to reduced vigour and enhanced vulnerability to diseases and pests. This has led to withering of fruit and nut trees. Perennial crops are likely to become increasingly maladapted to their environment, particularly in the earlier period of climate change they are more likely to be attacked by diseases and insects. Coconuts, areca nuts and mango trees have died in several places and the government constituted committees have recommended compensation to the farmers. As a country, we have dramatically increased our reliance on groundwater. 175 million Indians are now fed with food produced with the unsustainable use of groundwater. This increase has dried up rivers and lakes, because there is a hydrologic connection between groundwater and surface water. Yet the legal rules governing water use usually ignore the link between law and science. The issue needs thorough examination and needs policy interventions to come out of this vicious circle.

Groundwater Decline and Prolonged Drought Could Reduce Vigour, Enhance Vulnerability to Diseases and Pests and Kill Perennial Horticultural Crops: Needs Urgent Policy Intervention

Perennial horticulture in India has undergone a change from rainfed system to drip fertigation systems and from isolated hedge and bund trees to high intensity orchard systems with enhanced number of trees per unit area. In several parts, particularly in the Deccan plateau, the system has now become completely dependent on water pumped from tube wells. Severe competition for water from tube wells makes farmers to devote more water for cash rich annual crops and even sell water for city dwellers nearby. As a consequence, the groundwater level in the past three decades has fallen from few feet to above thousand feet. At several places it has crossed the “peak water”. Frequent and prolonged exposure of fruit trees and nuts to drought coupled with ground water depletion has led to soil profile drying leading to reduced vigour and enhanced vulnerability to diseases and pests. This has led to withering of fruit and nut trees. Perennial crops are likely to become increasingly maladapted to their environment, particularly in the earlier period of climate change they are more likely to be attacked by diseases and insects. Coconuts, areca nuts and mango trees have died in several places and the government constituted committees have recommended compensation to the farmers. As a country, we have dramatically increased our reliance on groundwater. 175 million Indians are now fed with food produced with the unsustainable use of groundwater. This increase has dried up rivers and lakes, because there is a hydrologic connection between groundwater and surface water. Yet the legal rules governing water use usually ignore the link between law and science. The issue needs thorough examination and needs policy interventions to come out of this vicious circle.

Deep deficit.

Droughts highlighted California's unsustainable use of groundwater. Now, the state is trying to refill its aquifers.

Groundwater Depletion Embedded in Domestic Transfers and International Exports of the United States

AbstractThe United States plays a key role in global food security by producing and exporting agricultural products. Groundwater irrigation is increasingly important in agricultural production, nearly tripling since records began in 1950. Increased reliance on groundwater and prolonged unsustainable pumping of aquifers has led to groundwater depletion in many areas. In this study, we ask: How much groundwater depletion is embedded in the domestic transfers and international agricultural exports of the United States? How much do domestic and international agricultural commodity fluxes rely on unsustainable groundwater use? To address these questions, we quantify the amount of nonrenewable groundwater that is incorporated into agricultural commodities produced in the United States and transferred both within the country and exported internationally. We find that 26.3 km of nonrenewable groundwater was transferred domestically in 2002 and 2.7 km was sent abroad. In 2012, 34.8 km was transferred domestically and 3.7 km was exported. This indicates an increase of 32% in domestic transfers and 38% in international exports. In 2002, we find that 1,491,126 kt (340 billion USD) of agricultural products reliant on nonrenewable groundwater were domestically transferred, while 119,048 kt (47 billion USD) were exported. In 2012, the mass transfer of agricultural goods reliant on unsustainable groundwater decreased, but their value in national and international supply chains increased by 54% and 31%, respectively. Our results underscore the importance of the long‐term risks posed to global agricultural supply chains from reliance on unsustainable groundwater use.

Environment, technology and sustainability: the development and management of well-irrigation in Guanzhong Plain in Qing China

Abstract This paper presents a case study of the well irrigation in Guanzhong Plain during the Qing dynasty. The paper analyses the scales and results of well irrigation campaigns sponsored by the government in the mid-eighteen century and the late nineteenth century. Limited by the natural environment and technical conditions, the efficiency of well irrigation is poor. Farmers’ choices also affect the development of well irrigation. Moreover, a lack of management led to the unsustainable use of groundwater. Historical groundwater policies were mainly aimed at increasing agricultural production. Policies should be made according to local conditions. It is important to ensure the sustainable development of groundwater.

Impact of agricultural development on evapotranspiration trends in the irrigated districts of Pakistan: evidence from 1981 to 2012

ABSTRACTUnderstanding time-series evapotranspiration trends is critical for water-balance assessments and sustainable water management in arid regions. In this paper, an approach is presented to understand time-series evapotranspiration trends by combining remote sensing-based evapotranspiration and agricultural statistics data and applying them to understand district-level water-use trends in the Indus basin irrigation system of Pakistan. The evapotranspiration of most districts in the Punjab increased over the period, whereas in Sindh it generally remained about the same or decreased. The trends in Punjab suggests that the already unsustainable groundwater use in some areas may become more unsustainable.

Unsustainable groundwater use for global food production and related international trade

Non-technical summary Most of the water humans consume is for agriculture. Rapidly increasing water demand has led to overexploitation of water resources in many important food-producing regions. In particular, growing groundwater-based irrigation causes potentially damaging depletion. Food systems are increasingly globalized, leading to large export-oriented production. Much research has focused on quantifying the amount of water resources embedded in traded products, but less attention has been given to the role of groundwater use and the related sustainability of agriculture globally. We assess current knowledge of virtual water trade in light of groundwater use and sustainability and highlight remaining challenges in this field.

Unanswered questions for implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

Outlook Unanswered questions for implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Michael Kiparsky, Director, Wheeler Water Institute, Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, UC Berkeley School of Law A rig drills a new well in Merced County. In the foreground is a pressure relief structure for subsurface water pipes. Groundwater accounts for between one-third and two-thirds of California’s water use in a given year and serves as a lifeline when surface water runs low during drought. In part because of California’s historical lack of groundwater use regulation, this crucial resource is threatened. In some areas, declining groundwater levels have caused the land surface to subside at a rate of more than one inch per month, damaging roads, canals and pipelines. Falling water tables are driving a well-drilling race that threatens farms, communi- ties and ecosystems. To address the problem of chronic groundwa- ter overdraft, SGMA, adopted in 2014, declares a state policy of managing groundwater sustainably, with sustainability defined as avoiding six specific undesirable results. These are “significant and unreasonable” (1) lowering of groundwater levels, (2) reduction in groundwater storage, (3) seawater intrusion, (4) water quality degradation, (5) land subsidence and (6) impacts on beneficial uses of interconnected surface waters. In concept, this forward-thinking framing aligns the requirements of the law with the im- pacts of unsustainable groundwater use and the actions needed to address those impacts. To accomplish these objectives, SGMA relies primarily on local control, with an enforcement backstop provided by the State Water Resources Control Board. New local entities called groundwa- ter sustainability agencies (GSAs) will do the bulk of the work of implementing SGMA by developing, implementing and updating groundwater sustain- ability plans (GSPs). A GSP provides the template for achieving sustainable groundwater manage- ment in a GSA’s jurisdiction within 20 years. GSAs must be formed by 2017 and GSPs completed by 2020 or 2022. http://calag.ucanr.edu • OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2016 165 Leigh Bernacchi C alifornia is grappling with the implications of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), a visionary and potentially revolutionary law that could profoundly change the way water is managed in the state. The nature of the revolution, however, is not yet clear. Whether and how SGMA achieves its goals hinges on open questions about its implementation.