The Colorado River basin is at code red levels of crisis. As the rate of groundwater depletion is increasing, it endangers the water supply to nearly 40 million people in seven U.S. states and millions of acres of farmland. As our own research revealed, groundwater is disappearing 2.4 times faster than surface waters. In the Colorado River basin, freshwater is disappearing at three times the alarming national rate, tripling since 2015. This shocking trend threatens both agricultural sustainability and urban water supplies in the already arid region.
Prior to the passage of SGMA in 2014, California had almost no regulation of groundwater pumping. As a result, that state introduced an overallocation management system to prevent over-extraction. Arizona represents a major Achilles heel, as most of their groundwater usage is still unregulated. Consequently, nearly all property owners in Arizona can freely pump as much groundwater as they choose. This uncapped access has led to overpumping, the primary driver of groundwater loss in the last 20 years.
The rapid growth of large-scale, polluting industrial animal farming in the west-southwest, and especially Arizona, has worsened the impairment. Additionally, farmers are subsidized with resources that allow them to go deeper, and wider, and more expensive wells to mask their water needs. Groundwater depletion in Arizona is among the major causes of this growing freshwater loss. This important issue has a direct impact on the Colorado River basin.
The ramifications of this depletion reach well beyond the borders of each state. Jay Famiglietti, a hydrologist at Arizona State University and the senior author of a newly published study on groundwater depletion. He reiterated the dire and dangerous threat this crisis presents to our water supply. He stated,
“Everyone in the US should be worried about it, because we grow a lot of food in the Colorado River basin, and that’s food that’s used all over the entire country.”
As Famiglietti pointed out, groundwater is an issue that rarely registers on the radar of the average citizen, adding that
“It’s invisible. It’s mysterious. The average citizen doesn’t really understand it.”
The new cuts appear to be focused on that lower Colorado River basin where almost all the groundwater losses since 2003 have happened. We can’t keep relying on groundwater to feed all our communities — it’s a losing game. It threatens grave harm to the region’s food production and water supply.
As the trend of desiring bigger, fewer farms grows, the importance of smart management and oversight from these industries is more important than ever. Without robust public oversight and meaningful sustainable practices, the Colorado River basin faces a disastrous end. These challenges would be devastating to water supply for millions of people and 80% of California’s $46 billion dollar agriculture industry.