How do droughts affect groundwater use?
In an average year, about 30 percent of California’s urban and agricultural water supplies come from groundwater pumping. Reliance on groundwater increases during droughts due to the reduced availability of surface water. During the 1987-92 drought the total number of well driller reports filed with the Department were in the range of 25,000 reports per year for several years, up from less that 15,000 reports per year prior to the drought. Most of the new wells were for private residential use. Increased groundwater pumping during droughts results in increased lowering of water levels in groundwater basins. Information about changes in groundwater levels is available for sites covered by the Department’s groundwater monitoring program. Go to the DWR Water Data Library and use the map interface to locate your area of interest.
