Modeling How Groundwater Pumping Will Affect Aquatic Ecosystems
https://eos.org/articles/modeling-how-groundwater-pumping-will-affect-aquatic-ecosystems
Source: By Adityarup Chakravorty, Eos/AGU.
Excerpt: Almost 30% of Earth’s freshwater supply lies hidden from view as groundwater. These waters, though mostly invisible, are vital for us humans. Groundwater provides about half the global supply of drinking water and is used to grow the majority of the world’s irrigated crops. Groundwater is also an inextricable cog in the global water cycle. In many areas, discharge from groundwater replenishes streams and rivers, helping sustain aquatic ecosystems. Many of these ecosystems are now under threat, according to a new study. Inge de Graaf, a hydrological environmental systems researcher at the University of Freiburg, and colleagues simulated on a global scale how current rates of groundwater extraction will affect surface streams and rivers and the ecosystems associated with them. “Almost 20% of the regions where groundwater is pumped currently suffer from a reduction of river flow, putting ecosystems at risk,” de Graaf wrote in a recent blog post. “We expect that by 2050 more than half of the regions with groundwater abstractions will not be able to maintain healthy ecosystems.”....
Source: By Adityarup Chakravorty, Eos/AGU.
Excerpt: Almost 30% of Earth’s freshwater supply lies hidden from view as groundwater. These waters, though mostly invisible, are vital for us humans. Groundwater provides about half the global supply of drinking water and is used to grow the majority of the world’s irrigated crops. Groundwater is also an inextricable cog in the global water cycle. In many areas, discharge from groundwater replenishes streams and rivers, helping sustain aquatic ecosystems. Many of these ecosystems are now under threat, according to a new study. Inge de Graaf, a hydrological environmental systems researcher at the University of Freiburg, and colleagues simulated on a global scale how current rates of groundwater extraction will affect surface streams and rivers and the ecosystems associated with them. “Almost 20% of the regions where groundwater is pumped currently suffer from a reduction of river flow, putting ecosystems at risk,” de Graaf wrote in a recent blog post. “We expect that by 2050 more than half of the regions with groundwater abstractions will not be able to maintain healthy ecosystems.”....