The Green Analysis

Reliance on Groundwater

Overall, groundwater is the single largest source of freshwater, with an estimated 2.78 million trillion gallons of water or 1.7% of the entire planet’s water. Groundwater is utilized for many things, from agriculture, industrial purposes, cooling data centers, mining, and, most importantly, for drinking. Our world relies on groundwater, so much so that roughly half of the entire population, in some capacity, relies on groundwater for drinking purposes. It also provides around 40 percent of all the water used in agriculture. 

Issues

The most prevalent issue with climate change is the depletion and overuse of aquifers. Overusing groundwater can also lead to other effects, such as lowering the water table, saltwater intrusions, and subsidence. 71 percent of all aquifers are in the process of shrinking from overuse. Another prevalent problem with groundwater is the potential for pollutants to leach into aquifers, making the water unusable. Every area with groundwater has a level called the water table. This level is similar to the sea level, but instead of measuring the height of the ocean, it is how far up the aquifer is. The water table is the level at which the ground transfers from fully saturated with water to not saturated with water. As such, when aquifers are overused, it is running the risk of not having enough water to provide for people in the upcoming years, and it also lowers the water table. Lowering the water table has many implications; firstly, it makes the aquifer only present at deeper depths, which could make some wells dry and force people to dig deeper to access the aquifer. This reduction in water level leaves a void in the land, where previously soil saturated with water is now empty, which allows for the soil to be compacted, leading to the sinking of the land and potential sinkholes. Another possible issue is that a lower water table in coastal areas also allows dense saltwater to intrude inland and replace a previously freshwater source with unusable saltwater. The primary method that pollutants can enter an aquifer is through leaching, where an area with contaminants can be transported by water into the aquifer. Some sources of these pollutants are landfills, industrial sites, and mines. 

Solutions

The primary solution to the over-exploitation of aquifers is just water management. This can range from increasing the efficiency of current water usage so less water needs to be taken from aquifers, finding other water sources, or implementing limits on water usage. Aquifers can be exploited extremely quickly and take long periods to recover; as such, it is in our best interest to maintain aquifers worldwide so that water will be readily available for generations to come. In terms of pollution, there are a few ways where groundwater pollution can be mitigated. Linings to landfills can be added to prevent pollutants from getting transported to the aquifer. For other pollution sites, preventing the pollutants from entering the water is the best way to ensure that our groundwater does not get polluted.