Groundwater pumping could ‘devastate’ river systems

PARIS: Rampant and unsustainable extraction of groundwater reserves crucial for food production will “critically impact” rivers, lakes and wetlands in half of Earth´s drainage basins by mid-century, researchers warned Wednesday.

Found underground in cracks in soil, sand and rock, groundwater is the largest useable source of freshwater on the planet and more than two billion people rely on it to drink or irrigate crops. But reserves are already under pressure as the global population explodes and crop production rises in tandem. An international team of researchers studied the rate at which existing groundwater was feeding into rivers, lakes and wetlands across the planet and how pumping for farming effected that process, known as streamflow.