THAT SINKING FEELING: SUBSIDENCE IS CAUSING MAJOR DAMAGE ACROSS CALIFORNIA

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East County News Service

Photo: US Geological Survey scientist Michelle Sneed shows where a farmer would have been standing in 1988, before drought triggered sinking in the San Joaquin Valley.

June 12, 2015 (Sacramento) – California is sinking – fast.  Records from the U.S. Geological Survey reveal that some parts of California are subsiding by a foot a year, as groundwater pumping has increased by 40 percent due to the drought.  That’s causing wells to crumple, thousands of miles of highways to become damaged, irrigation canals to crack and bridges to be destroyed, according to an article in Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting.

Two bridges in Fresno County have sunk so much that they are almost underwater, while an elementary school in the same area is slowly falling into a sinkhole several miles long. Some vineyards in the Napa Valley area are also sinking, as is at least one dam. 

No state agency is tracking just how severe the subsidence is across California. While the state did pass a law to regulate groundwater pumping, farmers don’t have to meet those goal until 2040—and even then, the data will be kept secret from the public.


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