S A V O I A

Almost one-fourth of the global population lives in areas where drinkable groundwater is being consumed at an alarmingly unsustainable rate. A comprehensive global analysis of groundwater depletion, published on Nature.com, says we are drinking faster than can be replenished.

The human race depends largely on tapping massive reservoirs of water that have been stored for up to thousands of years in sand, clay and rock deep under the Earth’s surface. These vast aquifers — which in some cases pan across multiple states and countries — provide water for drinking and crop irrigation, as well as to support ecosystems such as forests and fisheries.Yet in most of the world’s major agricultural regions, including the Central Valley in California, the Nile delta region of Egypt, and the Upper Ganges in India and Pakistan, demand exceeds these reservoirs’ capacity for renewal.

“This overuse can lead to decreased groundwater availability for both drinking water and growing food,” says Tom Gleeson, a hydrogeologist at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and lead author of the study. He adds, it “can lead to dried up streams and ecological impacts”.

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Now, we have to pay for it

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The sever drought we face is made tangible by current crop crisis is making corn and bean prices sky rocket. Bloomberg reports that stockpiles of the biggest crops will decline for a third year as drought parches fields across three continents, raising food-import costs already forecast by the United Nations to reach a near-record $1.24 trillion.

In the U.S. as a whole, including Puerto Rico, drought now covers 52.3 percent of the land, down from 52.7 percent in the previous week. A year ago, 27.1 percent of the U.S. and Puerto Rico was affected by drought.

Some dryness affects 70.2 percent of the U.S. and 78.1 percent of the contiguous 48 states.

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We conclude with a significant glimpse of hope. Up to 99% of the fresh, unfrozen water on the planet is groundwater. “It’s this huge reservoir that we have the potential to manage sustainably,” he says. “If we choose to.”