Warp-n-weft t1_j6g00hs wrote
Reply to comment by pm_me_your_rigs in Eli5....can you dig a well anywhere and hit water...and how did the early ranchers in the West know where to dig for water. Especially in the really dry areas? by pinkshrinkrn
It is worth noting that underground water isn’t necessarily a renewable resource.
Large amounts of water can be found underground in aquifers but that water can be old. Potentially hundreds of thousands of years old, deposited during the Pleistocene and it’s impressive ice age.
We can, and do, pump ancient water out to use today. But that water may not be able to recharge. Worse is if we experience subsidence of the aquifer. By withdrawing water we shrink the size of the container (the aquifer) and it potential volume cannot be increased. In some places in California the ground has subsided due to water extraction at a rate of a foot annually.
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