Ground Water and Land Subsidence – A Pending Crisis?
Californians have seen the ominous photo: It depicts a person standing next to a telephone pole that bears a series of signs labeled with years.
At the top of the pole is a sign that reads “1962.” Several feet lower is a sign reading, “1970.” Much further down, another sign says, “2015,” followed by more signs for the years 2019, 2021 and finally a sign at the bottom that reads “2025.”
Each sign represents the ground level that year and how far the ground has sunk due to subsidence.
The iconic photo shows how severely subsidence is impacting our valley and how much water is being pumped without being replenished.
Author summary: Land subsidence threatens California valleys.