groundwater depletion

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the long-term decline in stored groundwater volumes within aquifer systems caused by rates of extraction for irrigation, municipal supply, and industrial use that persistently exceed rates of natural or artificial recharge; groundwater depletion is occurring in major agricultural regions worldwide including the High Plains Ogallala Aquifer of the United States, the Indo-Gangetic Plain of India and Pakistan, the North China Plain, and the Central Valley of California, threatening the agricultural productivity of regions that rely on groundwater irrigation for staple crop production; depletion causes land subsidence, reduced streamflow in rivers fed by groundwater discharge, salinisation of aquifer water as saltwater intrudes from marine boundaries, and ultimately the exhaustion of economically accessible water