34 DECEMBER 2021 WorldWide Drilling Resource® RENEW - SUBSCRIBE NOW! According to a research study of fossil water by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, fossil water replenishment is unreliable, especially during drought. Recently, the team found 7% of the 2330 California drinking wells tested produced fossil water, and 22% of those wells produced mixed-age water, including at least some ancient water. Research indicates more than half of our groundwater is fossil water. Fossil water in California is more likely to be found in the dry southwestern part of the Central Valley and in Southern California’s deserts. On the central coast, the Lawrence Livermore Team found fossil water in some of the deeper portions of the Salinas Valley’s aquifer system. Some of these aquifers, serving as massive underground reservoirs, have been depleted, causing the land in some areas to permanently subside. Many of the identified wells yielding fossil water are clustered in regions already experiencing surface and groundwater stress, so a continued reliance on groundwater during droughts may not be reliable, and such resources may not be recoverable. As a result of depletion of some of the state’s aquifers, California enacted the first ever groundwater protection law. It requires local water agencies and distribution companies to look for ways to make aquifers sustainable by 2042. The new research will help identify where water is being pumped faster than it can be renewed, taking a critical step toward sustainable water resources. Mapping these fossil water reserves may help researchers plan for better groundwater management methods. Identifying where fossil water is pumped for drinking water will aid in making sustainability decisions. The goal of researchers is to determine how much fossil water remains so it can be rationed, while experts work on ways to replenish these ancient reservoirs. Menso de Jong, Lawrence Livermore researcher and lead author of the study, believes finding a method to mimic the natural recharge cycle might be the only way to prevent the disappearance of fossil water. Another possible mitigation method is tapping river water during the rainy season. Other suggestions include using treated floodwater to replenish groundwater resources, a popular, but costly, idea. In any case, there are many methods to replenish present-day groundwater; however, fossil water is not sustainable in the same way. When water, a finite natural resource, is in crisis, then modern civilization is also. As Charles Bowden said, “Humans build their societies around consumption of fossil water long buried in the earth, and these societies, being based on temporary resources, face the problem of being temporary themselves.” Ultimately, water managers need to ensure the water pumped from wells is replenished at a sustainable pace, and to do this, there must be more research on the vintage and origin of water, as well as changes in the systems to promote groundwater recharge. Photo courtesy of Ryan Loughlin on Unsplash. Hidden Resource continued from page 33
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