This has already happened in East Porterville, California, where an extended drought has led people to drill deeper wells, which has resulted in decreased groundwater levels and caused wells to further dry up. This can cause wells to dry up if water inputs from recharging cannot keep up with our rate of groundwater removal. We must take care, however, we do not pump out too much groundwater at once. It is also used for domestic, industrial, and commercial purposes, though most groundwater is actually used for irrigation of farmland. population, including almost 100 percent of the rural U.S. In fact, groundwater provides drinking water for over 50 percent of the U.S. One important reason why groundwater is extracted through wells is to provide drinking water. ![]() Artesian wells are drilled into aquifers that are bounded by an impenetrable rock layer from both above and below and water pressure from a recharging source located above the well outlet point will cause groundwater to be pushed upward through the artesian well, making the use of a pump unnecessary. To artificially discharge groundwater, a well must be drilled into an aquifer, and a well typically requires a pump to move water upward out of the aquifer. ![]() It is recharged by precipitation, snowmelt, or water seepage from other sources, including irrigation and leaks from water supply systems. Water found in this zone is called soil moisture, and is distinct from groundwater.Įxisting groundwater can be discharged through springs, lakes, rivers, streams, or manmade wells. ![]() The top of the saturated zone is called the water table, and sitting above the water table is the unsaturated zone, where the spaces in between rocks and sediments are filled with both water and air. The amount of time that groundwater remains in aquifers is called its residence time, which can vary widely, from a few days or weeks to 10 thousand years or more. Groundwater is contained and flows through bodies of rock and sediment called aquifers. Groundwater fills in all the empty spaces underground, in what is called the saturated zone, until it reaches an impenetrable layer of rock. Water that has travelled down from the soil surface and collected in the spaces between sediments and the cracks within rock is called groundwater.
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