The Water You Don’t See

 

“Often groundwater is out of sight, out of mind… We don’t measure it, we don’t understand it and we misuse it. And we need to make sure that we are managing groundwater so that it is supporting us, and making sure that we have a sustainable future.” 

Hydrologist Melissa Rohde.

While we mere humans fight over whether water is truly disappearing or, given all the recent atmospheric rivers and flooding, we actually have more than enough fresh water to keep civilization slaked, irrigated and pleasantly moist forever. The trouble with these debates, as is so true with so much of nature, is that people tend to deal with what they can see, dismissing as elitist tripe stuff warn us about through their “scientific” metrics.

If you want an example of how “I hate educated elites” masses respond to dedicated scientists, look at how the inimitable MAGA Congresswoman from Georgia, Majorie Taylor Greene, described GOP-spear-catcher favorite, Doctor Anthony Fauci as he voluntarily testified at a June 3rd House Subcommittee (on the Coronavirus Pandemic): “Mr. Fauci – because you're not 'doctor,' you're Mr. Fauci in my few minutes ... That man does not deserve to have a license. As a matter of fact, it should be revoked, and he belongs in prison.” The death threats to Fauci and family just poured in.

And so it is with groundwater, the stuff in wells and aquifers assuming it is still potable and not contaminated with toxins from abuses like fracking and waste runoff. For years in the 19th and early 20th centuries, windmills were used to pump irrigation water over our vast plains states, like the once massive Ogallala (High Plains) Aquifer that ran/runs from the Dakotas south to North Texas, all as pictured above. Aside from the damage from failed crop rotation and other mishaps that gave us the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, when the only aquifer pumps were windmills, rainwater seemed enough to replenish this massive water storage from nature. But diesel (later solar) pumps, plus the use of fertilizers to grow more crops on relatively smaller pieces of land, the aquifer’s water levels dropped to bone dry in some areas.

But this isn’t just a warning to Mid-West farmers; the nation’s largest supplier of fruits and vegetables, California, is also struggling with groundwater realities. Much of groundwater control had been determined by agreements from the 19th century. Writing for the May 29th Los Angeles Times, Ian James describes the relevant research: “When Rohde and other scientists examined the local-level plans for parts of the state that fall under regulation, they found only about 9% of groundwater-dependent ecosystems were adequately protected, while the remaining 91% were vulnerable.

“Rohde has been focusing on finding ways to change that, in California and around the world… Often working at home, she has pored over satellite data to spot decreases in vegetation greenness during drought, a telltale sign of die-off caused by declining aquifer levels. And she has analyzed how different types of trees, including willows, cottonwoods and oaks, fare when water levels fall, depending on the depth of their roots…

“Already, California has lost the vast majority of its original wetlands to development, water diversions and agriculture. To avoid losing what remains, Rohde said, the state needs ‘a precautionary and preventative approach that can ensure that these ecosystems can withstand the intensification of droughts in climate change.’

“During a recent visit to Kern County, Rohde and several conservation specialists walked in the shade through a lush forest of cottonwood trees near the south fork of the Kern River, visiting a nature preserve she had previously seen only in satellite images… At the edge of a clearing, she came upon the bare, sunbleached skeletons of dead trees… She said satellite data had revealed that parts of the forest died along this part of the Kern River during the drought between 2012 and 2016… ‘That’s because the groundwater levels rapidly declined,’ Rohde said…

“‘Nature has been getting the short end of the stick. It basically gets whatever is left behind, which oftentimes is not enough,’ Rohde said. ‘How do we ensure that these ecosystems are protected?’… ‘When you play around with keeping groundwater levels too deep to support the habitat, then you could lose species, and then that’s irreversible. The consequences can be severe.’” But everybody in California is losing. We grow most of the nuts consumed in the US, for example, but nut trees use up a multiple of the water needed for smaller crops. Today, water may well be more precious than gold. How precious exactly?

“The former general manager of a San Joaquin Valley water district, accused by federal prosecutors of carrying out one of the most audacious and long-running water heists in California history, pleaded guilty Tuesday [5/28] to a version of the crime far more muted than what prosecutors had laid out in their original indictment.

“As part of a plea agreement negotiated with prosecutors, Dennis Falaschi, 78, former longtime head of the Panoche Water District, appeared in a Fresno federal courtroom and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to steal water from the government and one count of filing a false tax return… The plea deal is a jarring twist in a case that has captivated farmers in the San Joaquin Valley. In 2022, prosecutors accused Falaschi of masterminding the theft of more than $25 million worth of water out of a federal irrigation canal over the course of two decades and selling it to farmers and other water districts. The water grab, as laid out in the indictment, happened cat-burglar-style, siphoned through a secret pipe, often after hours to avoid detection.

“According to the indictment, proceeds that should have gone to the federal government instead were used to benefit Falaschi, his water district and a small group of co-conspirators, much of it funneled into exorbitant salaries and lavish fringe benefits. Jessica Garrison for the May 29th LA Times. But this abuse of water is happening all over the world. And while the inordinate level of flooding does somewhat seep into wells and aquifers, most of it is wasted runoff. One of the greatest drivers of migration happens to occur where wells and aquifers have run dry, and the farmers that once relied on that groundwater were/are no longer able to grow crops. Desperate farmers leave. As land succumbs to desertification, those areas where crops can still be grown become more valuable, and food prices rise accordingly.

I’m Peter Dekom, and what so many people don’t accept or realize is that ignoring the obvious consequences of climate change can kill them… or at least make their lives miserable.