Satellites Unlock Secret To Northern India's Vanishing Water

ScienceDaily (Aug. 19, 2009) — Using satellite data, UC Irvine and NASA hydrologists have found that groundwater beneath northern India has been receding by as much as 1 foot per year over the past decade – and they believe human consumption is almost entirely to blame.....

...."If measures are not soon taken to ensure sustainable groundwater usage, consequences for the 114 million residents of the region may include a collapse of agricultural output, severe shortages of potable water, conflict and suffering," said Rodell, lead author of the study and former doctoral student of Famiglietti's at the University of Texas at Austin.....

...."Groundwater mining – that is when withdrawals exceed replenishment rates – is a rapidly growing problem in many of the world's large aquifers," Famiglietti said. "Since groundwater provides nearly 80 percent of the water required for irrigated agriculture, diminishing groundwater reserves pose a serious threat to global food security."

Found this interesting, thought I would share...

reply to post by tmayhew01


Ah yes...Blue Gold.


Wars will be fought over this resource just as we have done with oil, ect...


Better get those desalination plants up and running asap.

It sounds like India is going to have to either use Reclaimed Non-Potable or Indirect Potable Water like many places in the World use, or use Reclaimed Potable Water like Los Angeles and several places in Australia are currently allowing. Either that or they are going to have to bite the bullet and build Seawater Desalination Plants which are expensive to both build and maintain, and no one has yet implemented them on a large scale because of this.

Reclaimed Water from Sewage isn't as bad as it may sound. If it is good enough for American astronauts, and the residents of Los Angeles...then it should be good enough for the Indian people.

This certainly some interesting news. Someone should notify peacejet of this....its not due to lack of rain...its due to overuse

PJ is Indian by the way

Good find OP