Is Your City Sinking Due to Ground Water Over Use - Talk About Falling Real Estate Value?

Recently, a study of the Coachella Valley in the low desert between the Salton Sea and Riverside CA noted that overuse of groundwater is depleting the aquifer at a surprising rate. Why did this happen? The Coachella Valley has about 200 golf courses, and the area has been expanding rapidly for decades. Currently, the value of real estate was not as bad as the rest of the region, but now Coachella Valley faces another serious problem unrelated to subprime loan fallout.

Most of the area is sinking 1 to 6 inches, and some areas are sinking with feet. This occurred within nine years of being first noticed and began to maintain accurate records. Another issue addressed is that the volume available to the aquifer decreases when the subsidence area begins to fill again. What can the region do now?

There may be a need for compulsory conservation, or at least a strong public relations program to ensure that citizens are serious about this challenge. In order to water golf courses and landscaping, more gray water needs to be used. In addition, some water needs to be diverted to underground aquifers. However, the water comes from the Colorado River, which has already been dispensed, and is shared in areas such as San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson. In any case, you can see the crisis going on in this area.