Scientists make troubling discovery while studying effects of record snowfall in drought-affected region: 'I expected that ... would really help'
Story by Timothy McGill • 22h •
Even record snowfall during recent winters can't counteract the loss of groundwater in the western U.S. Improved satellite imagery of the Great Basin confirms snowfall is not enough to put a significant dent in the decline of water levels in the region.
What's happening?
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment now has 20 years of data that includes maps of changing water levels in the west. Improved satellite imagery has helped reveal the problem.
A drought, increased evaporation, and rising demands from households and agriculture have caused a dramatic drop in the water supply that record-breaking winter snowfall can't overcome.
"In years like the 2022-23 winter, I expected that the record amount of snowfall would really help to replenish the groundwater supply," said Dorothy Hall, one of the authors of a study on groundwater loss, per Phys.org. "But overall, the decline continued."
Even with a recharge from the annual snowmelt in the Great Basin, there was a significant loss of groundwater from 2002 to 2023. The loss over two decades was more than six times the current volume of water in Lake Mead in Arizona and Nevada.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/scientists-make-troubling-discovery-while-studying-effects-of-record-snowfall-in-drought-affected-region-i-expected-that-would-really-help/ar-BB1qKj7k?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=f959036ddf8846b28afcf7953e732ac4&ei=37
