Groundwater Depletion in Arid Regions: A Satellite-Era Assessment, 2000–2025
Context—Groundwater buffers arid regions against rainfall variability, but satellite and monitoring records now show widespread drawdown. Methods—This brief synthesises 2000–2025 evidence from GRACE/GRACE-FO gravimetry, in situ wells, hydrological models, and regional studies. Findings—The strongest depletion signals occur where dry climates, irrigated agriculture, urban growth, and weak allocation rules coincide: north-west India, the North China Plain, the Middle East, Iran, parts of North Africa, the U.S. High Plains and Central Valley, and other semi-arid basins. Satellite gravimetry confirms large-scale terrestrial water storage losses, while well networks reveal local aquifer declines and occasional recoveries where pumping controls, surface-water substitution, or recharge investments are sustained. Implications—Because many arid aquifers recharge slowly, depletion transfers risk to future food production, ecosystems, land stability, and drought resilience. Management priorities include metering, enforceable caps, conjunctive use, recharge protection, crop-water alignment, and transparent groundwater accounting.
Introduction
Groundwater is the principal strategic water reserve for many arid and semi-arid regions. It supplies irrigation, cities, livestock, industry, and dry-season river flow where rainfall is low, variable, or concentrated in short seasons [9]. Since 2000, the satellite era has made it possible to observe regional water-storage change at scales that transcend administrative boundaries. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), launched in 2002, and GRACE Follow-On, launched in 2018, detect small changes in Earth’s gravity field caused partly by changes in terrestrial water storage [11]. When combined with estimates of soil moisture, snow, surface water, and reservoir…
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