Third of World's Big Groundwater Basins in Distress

NASA revealed on June 17 that one third of the world’s 37 largest groundwater systems are in distress. Fortunately the Great Artesian Basin is not one of them but two years has passed since the data was collected by satellite. 

Of the 37 aquifers studied 21 have ‘exceeded sustainability tipping points and are being depleted, with 13 considered significantly distressed, threatening regional water security and resilience’. The Canning Basin in Western Australia is one of these.

A companion paper published the same day concluded that ‘the total remaining volume of the world’s usable groundwater is poorly known, with estimates that often vary widely’.

Link to NASA maps and more information.