Water

While atmospheric rivers are dreaded for the damage they can cause, they are also essential to the Pacific Northwest and particularly California's water supply, as Qian Cao, a hydrologist at the University of California, San Diego, explains.

This post examines how different parts of California often see very different water years.

Groundwater is rapidly declining across the globe, often at accelerating rates. Writing in the journal Nature, UC Santa Barbara researchers present the largest assessment of groundwater levels around the world.

Rising sea levels can cause an increase in the salt concentration of the underlying aquifer, in turn, possibly increasing the release of arsenic from sediments into the drinking well water by the salt effect.

Some of Africa’s dry areas face serious water shortages due to minimal rainfall. An ancient system of drawing water from aquifers, the “qanat system”, could help.

Three decades of data have informed a new Nebraska-led study that shows how the depletion of groundwater — the same that many farmers rely on for irrigation — can threaten food production amid drought and drier climes.

2023 was a year of record-breaking heat, devastating storms and floods, deepening droughts and raging wildfires. These events showed how climate change is affecting the global water cycle and our livelihoods.

This report details rainfall, air temperature, humidity, soil and groundwater conditions, vegetation access to water, river flows, flooding, and lake volumes in 2023. The report also discusses trends in the water cycle and important hydrological events.