Groundwater is a vital source of water for a large part of the United States; it’s used for drinking and irrigation, keeps wells and springs filled, and generally contains fewer contaminants than surface water. Declines in groundwater levels are a growing problem in recent years, resulting in lakes and reservoir levels dropping, and less water flowing in streams and rivers. One such river is the 1,450-mile-long Colorado River that spans seven US states and two Mexican states, with a river basin that covers 246,000 square miles, making it the seventh largest drainage basin in North America. Groundwater is an important indicator of the overall health of the Colorado River Basin, but there isn’t a lot of standardized research about the contributing factors of drought and its long-term impacts on the area.
This summer, one group from the eScience Institute’s Data Science for Social Good program at the University of Washington is examining the groundwater scarcity in the Colorado River Basin to better understand how these changes impact our communities. The project is led by Akshay Mehra, Assistant Professor of UW Earth and Space Sciences, and Sameer Shah, Assistant Professor of UW Environmental and Forest Sciences.
Louisa Gaylord 