California has more water in reserve than previous estimates suggested, new research finds — but it will be expensive to pump it from the ground and treat it for use.
Deep groundwater aquifers under California's Central Valley contain enough usable water to bring the Central Valley's groundwater stores to about 650 cubic miles (2,700 cubic kilometers), Stanford University researchers reported June 27 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That's three times more groundwater as in earlier estimates.
Image: The Lost Hills Oil Field in Kern County, California, near Bakersfield. Researchers used data from oil and gas wells to determine that California's Central Valley has more water than previously thought. Credit: Rob Jackson, Stanford University
