Groundwater depletion during drought threatens future water security of the Colorado River Basin.

Geophys Res Lett

UC Center for Hydrologic Modeling, University of California Irvine, California, USA ; Department of Earth System Science, University of California Irvine, California, USA ; NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California, USA.

Published: August 2014

Streamflow of the Colorado River Basin is the most overallocated in the world. Recent assessment indicates that demand for this renewable resource will soon outstrip supply, suggesting that limited groundwater reserves will play an increasingly important role in meeting future water needs. Here we analyze 9 years (December 2004 to November 2013) of observations from the NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment mission and find that during this period of sustained drought, groundwater accounted for 50.1 km of the total 64.8 km of freshwater loss. The rapid rate of depletion of groundwater storage (-5.6 ± 0.4 km yr) far exceeded the rate of depletion of Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Results indicate that groundwater may comprise a far greater fraction of Basin water use than previously recognized, in particular during drought, and that its disappearance may threaten the long-term ability to meet future allocations to the seven Basin states.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4373164PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2014GL061055DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

future water
8
colorado river
8
river basin
8
rate depletion
8
groundwater
5
groundwater depletion
4
depletion drought
4
drought threatens
4
threatens future
4
water security
4

Similar Publications

Fluid Distribution: Response to Intermittent Pneumatic Compression in People With and Without Primary Lymphedema.

Lymphat Res Biol

January 2025

Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Australia.

Current understanding of changes in fluid distribution in response to the application of compression in primary lymphedema (PLE) is limited. This study measured fluid distribution before and after one application of standardized intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) in the lower limbs of people with PLE, compared with those without lymphedema. High-frequency ultrasound (HFU) was used to measure dermal fluid, bioimpedance to measure segmental fluid, and percent water content (PWC) to measure fluid at specific anatomical points.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Enhancing CO Oversaturation in the Confined Water Enables Superior Gas Selectivity of 2D Membranes.

J Phys Chem Lett

January 2025

Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China.

Due to the global demands on carbon neutralization, CO separation membranes, particularly those based on two-dimensional (2D) materials, have attracted increasing attention. However, recent works have focused on the chemical decoration of membranes to realize the selective transport, leading to the compromised stability in the presence of moisture. Herein, we develop a series of 2D capillaries based on layered double hydroxide (LDH), graphene oxide, and vermiculite to enhance the oversaturation of CO in the confined water for promoting the membrane permselectivity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Porous polymers: structure, fabrication and application.

Mater Horiz

January 2025

Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027, China.

The porous polymer is a common and fascinating category within the vast family of porous materials. It offers valuable features such as sufficient raw materials, easy processability, controllable pore structures, and adjustable surface functionality by combining the inherent properties of both porous structures and polymers. These characteristics make it an effective choice for designing functional and advanced materials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

As the demand for clean water intensifies, developing effective methods for removing pollutants from contaminated sources becomes increasingly crucial. This work establishes a method for additive manufacturing of functional polymer sorbents with hollow porous features, designed to enhance interactions with organic micropollutants. Specifically, core-shell filaments are used as the starting materials, which contain polypropylene (PP) as the shell and poly(acrylonitrile-co-butadiene-co-styrene) as the core, to fabricate 3-dimensional (3D) structures on-demand via material extrusion.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!