groundwater

19 Stories

Our Love of Pizza Is Taking a Toll on US Groundwater

'New York Times' explains how farmers need irrigated crops to feed all those cows; same with chickens

(Newser) - A previous New York Times investigation revealed that America's groundwater is being depleted at a fast rate all around the country. A new story in the Times explains how Americans' love of cheese and chicken is a big reason why. Consider first the broad shift in our diets: The...

They Thought Their Drinking Water Was Safe. Now, a Lawsuit

Wisconsin city of Wausau sues PFAS makers, insurance firms over groundwater contamination

(Newser) - A Wisconsin city has filed a lawsuit against more than a dozen manufacturers of so-called forever chemicals, claiming the contaminants have polluted the city's groundwater. The complaint filed Thursday on behalf of Wausau is against 15 makers of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), as well as 61 insurance companies,...

America's Groundwater Situation: 'This Is a Crisis'

'New York Times' investigation details how we're draining it across the country at an alarming rate

(Newser) - Remember when Phoenix limited new construction earlier this year because there wasn't enough water to support the new homes? A New York Times investigation of America's groundwater situation suggests we'll be seeing more stories like that, and not only in desert states. The problem spans the country,...

Phoenix, Short on Water, Limits New Construction

Officials in Arizona are worried about long-range problems with groundwater

(Newser) - Phoenix got a glimpse of its future on Thursday, and it does not appear to include the sort of multiplying development that has made it the nation's fastest-growing metropolitan region. Arizona officials announced that their analysis shows there is not enough groundwater to support all the housing construction proposed...

Poland Spring Water Is 'Colossal Fraud': Suit
Poland Spring
Water Is 'Colossal
Fraud': Suit
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 20, 2017 6:37 AM CDT

Poland Spring Water Is 'Colossal Fraud': Suit

It's just 'ordinary groundwater,' lawsuit alleges

(Newser) - Nestle's Poland Spring bottled water does come from Maine, but its state of origin isn't the issue being raised in a class-action lawsuit against the company. In what they call a "colossal fraud," 11 plaintiffs in eight states argue the "100% Natural Spring Water" is...

Historic Calif. Drought Wreaked Irreversible, Bizarre Damage

Central Valley sank 3 feet—and won't be rebounding

(Newser) - Snowmelt and rain are in abundance for the first time in years in Central Valley, Calif., which boasts so much farmland it helps feed much of the world. But the state's five-year drought was so bad that all those farms sucked up enough groundwater to sink a solid three...

Overflowing Toxic Pit Kills 3K Birds
Overflowing Toxic Pit
Kills 3K Birds
Jan 24, 2017 10:16 AM CST

Overflowing Toxic Pit Kills 3K Birds

Tainted water of Berkeley Pit to hit critical level in 2023

(Newser) - It was an unusual and unfortunate confluence of events: A larger-than-normal number of geese was making a later-than-normal migration over Montana when a snowstorm blew in at the wrong time and sent them soaring to the wrong place, reports the AP . The throngs of white birds splashed down in a...

Army's New Push: Ammo That Grows Plants

It wants biodegradable bullets for training grounds

(Newser) - At US military training facilities, spent shell casings are scattered across proving grounds, many buried several inches below ground. What if they were biodegradable and contained seeds that would sprout into beneficial plants over time? It may sound a bit utopian, but the US Department of Defense has just released...

Dartmouth Ponies Up $8.4M Over Lab Animal Dumping Ground

School cleaning up land after pollution found in neighbors' groundwater

(Newser) - Neighbors of property where for years Dartmouth College disposed of mice and other small animals used in science experiments say they fear pollution has contaminated their groundwater. The site has contaminated the water of at least one family, Richard and Debbie Higgins, who blame a variety of health problems on...

Michigan Residents Furious About Nestle Water Plan

Company will pay $200 for 210M gallons

(Newser) - Nestle is facing a backlash in Michigan over its plans to massively expand the amount of groundwater it pumps from the state—and pay less than $1 per million gallons. The company wants to more than double what it pumps from its plant in Evart to 210 million gallons a...

One of Our Largest Water Sources Is Contaminated

Water in Indo-Gangetic Basin contains toxic salt and arsenic

(Newser) - A river basin in southern Asia is so enormous that 750 million people rely on it for their groundwater. Now, a new study in Nature Geoscience presents an equally staggering stat: 60% of that water is unfit for drinking or farming because it's contaminated by salt or arsenic, reports...

This City Is Sinking Twice as Fast as New Orleans

Up to 4 inches per year in some districts in Beijing

(Newser) - If New Orleans is sinking, Beijing might as well be in freefall. A new study in the journal Remote Sensing finds depleted groundwater is causing the Chinese capital—the growing Chaoyang district, in particular—to sink as much as four inches per year; a recent study found New Orleans was...

Study: We're Using Our Groundwater Too Quickly

Only a small fraction is renewable within a lifetime

(Newser) - "We're using our groundwater resources too fast—faster than they're being renewed," Dr. Tom Gleeson says in a University of Victoria press release . Gleeson, along with fellow researchers, published the most accurate map of Earth's groundwater supply to date on Monday in Nature Geoscience. The...

Earth May Have More Helium Left Than Thought

Great news for MRI machines, the Large Hadron Collider, inflatable cartoons

(Newser) - Don't mourn the loss of your humorously high-pitched voices quite yet. Despite years of warnings from scientists that Earth's supply of helium is quickly running out , the results of a study announced Wednesday in Prague show there could still be large deposits of the element hidden underground, the...

Phoenix Is Slowly Sinking

 Phoenix Is Slowly Sinking 
NEW STUDY
Aug 13, 2015 3:03 AM CDT

Phoenix Is Slowly Sinking

Subsidence can't be stopped, researchers say

(Newser) - Researchers say that while there's no need for residents of Phoenix to panic, parts of their city are slowly and unstoppably sinking into the ground. Land subsidence caused by the extraction of huge quantities of groundwater over the decades is to blame, and the Arizona State University researchers say...

Brewers: Don't Frack Up German Beer

Industry group worries fracking will harm the groundwater

(Newser) - Germany prides itself on the (legally mandated) purity of its beers, and brewers refuse to mess that up for a little thing like cheap energy. The Association of German Breweries is coming out in force against fracking, arguing that it should be banned until the government can be completely sure...

Hawaii's Mountainous Oahu Will Someday Be Flat

Check back in about 2 million years

(Newser) - Hawaii's island of Oahu is renowned for its mountainous vistas, but someday it's going to be flat as a pancake, or at least as flat as Midway. So say researchers from Brigham Young University in a new study, reports UPI . The big factor isn't what you might...

Drought Drying Up Home Wells
 Drought Drying Up Home Wells 
Aug 24, 2012 1:53 PM CDT

Drought Drying Up Home Wells

Families forced to adapt in a hurry

(Newser) - If you rely on well water and live in the Midwest, hopefully you're not too attached to the idea of showering. The drought pummeling the nation has been drying up a lot of private wells, the New York Times reports, forcing rural homeowners to either take the not-exactly-cheap step...

Africa Sitting On Tons of ... Water?

Seemingly dry continent has vast groundwater reserves

(Newser) - Believe it or not, Africa is lousy with water—it's just mostly underground. British scientists have produced a new map of the groundwater hidden in aquifers under the arid continent, and found that there's about 100 times more water down there than there is on the surface, the...

19 Stories