| Selected
Examples of Aquifer Depletion |
|
|
|
| Country |
Region |
Description
of Depletion |
|
|
|
| China |
North
China Plain |
Water
table falling by 2-3 meters per year under much of the Plain. As pumping
costs rise, farmers are abandoning irrigation. |
| United
States |
Southern
Great Plains |
Irrigation
is heavily dependent on water from Ogallala aquifer, largely a fossil
aquifer. In parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas the water table has
fallen more than 100 feet (30 meters). |
| Pakistan |
Punjab |
Water
table is falling under the Punjab and in the provinces of Baluchistan
and North West Frontier. |
| India |
Punjab,
Haryana, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and other
states |
Water
tables falling by 1-3 meters per year in some parts. In some states
extraction is double the recharge. In the Punjab, India's breadbasket,
water table falling by nearly 1 meter per year. |
| Iran |
Chenaran
Plain, northeastern Iran |
Water
table was falling by 2.8 meters per year but in 2001 drought and drilling
of new wells to supply nearby city of Mashad dropped it by 8 meters. |
| Yemen |
Entire
country |
Water
table falling by 2 meters per year throughout country and 6 meters
a year in Sana'a basin. Nation's capital, Sana'a, could run out of
water by end of this decade. |
| Mexico |
Entire
country |
An
estimated 52 percent of all water extracted from underground is coming
from aquifers that are being overpumped. |
|
|
|
| Source:
Compiled by Earth Policy Institute. |
