It’s been a dry year, again. El Nino is out on vacation (not like she would necessarily bring the coastal areas relief). And it’s hot again. Resources are thin and getting thinner. Our water is literally evaporating away, like those underground rivers that we never see. The aquifers that creep quietly far from the reach of most straws are themselves creeping along ever more slowly. Well are being drilled everywhere. The graph below from the USGS tells that story.

This man tells yet another story: Subsidence.

In dry areas, California is literally shriveling like a prune.

The piece of ecological impact is that ground and surface waters are becoming more and more disconnected: like miles apart in some cases. The plant roots cannot connect with underground water resources. Therefore we have greater vegetation loss, and well, an even drier home.

We need to continue to redistribute water in these critical years and figure out a way to have a discussion about groundwater. Otherwise, we might need to rename the phenomenon the “tragedy under the commons”. Support your wildlife refuge and let’s keep water running where it is most critical.

Here’s a link to the full-sized calendar jpg for your personal use.