Rapid groundwater decline and some cases of recovery in aquifers globally

Abstract Groundwater resources are vital to ecosystems and livelihoods. Excessive groundwater withdrawals can cause groundwater levels to decline 1–10 , resulting in seawater intrusion 11 , land subsidence 12,13 , streamflow depletion 14–16 and wells running dry 17 . However, the global pace and prevalence of local groundwater declines are poorly constrained, because in situ groundwater levels have not been synthesized at the global scale. Here we analyse in situ groundwater-level trends for 170,000 monitoring wells and 1,693 aquifer systems in countries that encompass approximately 75% of global groundwater withdrawals 18 . We show that rapid groundwater-level declines (>0.5 m year −1 ) are widespread in…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: 2234213, EAR-2048227, 2048227
• ZF
  Zegar Family Foundation
• SR
  Sight Research UK

  Award: NE/M008932/1
• UG
  U.S. Geological Survey
• CI
  California Institute for Water Resources, University of California
• NE
  Natural Environment Research Council

  Award: NE/M008932/1