A slowish news week and continued high water on the state’s rivers has made for lots of talk about Tropical Depression Bill in local news sources, which is expected to begin dumping rain in Central Arkansas tonight. And speaking of water…
*AQUIFER ANGST: The Washington Post reports on a major new study performed with a decade’s worth of NASA satellite data that shows where aquifers are being depleted, and how quickly. It’s worth a read if you like science and love worrying. Unsurprisingly, the worst situation is found in arid, overpopulated areas such as North Africa and Pakistan, but our own arid, overpopulated nation of California is also depleting its groundwater.
I notice the study indicates a similar negative flow in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains Aquifer in the American Southeast. Perhaps someone with more geology knowledge than me can explain whether or not that aquifer (system?) includes our own Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifer, which has long been depleted by water-hungry rice farmers in East Arkansas.