A new Washington State Unviersity study shows the groundwater is declining across Eastern Washington. Not all aquifers are dropping unsustainably, but many, including the Yakima Basin, are decreasing two to three feet per year.
The study isn’t looking at how much water is in the reserviors, but how much water is accessible with current wells.
In a press release, Sasha McLarty, a Civil and Environmental Engineering Assistant Professor, said “With these numbers we can say, ‘Hey, this is a problem now…It’s not a problem in the future, it’s a problem now.”
The research is published in the journal Groundwater for Sustainable Development. It provides a detailed new picture of the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System. Not all areas in the system showed declines, but the study shows a sense of urgency in the need for increased water supplies. Those may include water conservation, additional use of surface water, and aquifer-recharging projects.
McLarty hopes the new research will encourage efforts to improve groundwater sustainability.
