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California’s drought is over.
In parts of San Joaquin Valley, where the Surmays live, the ground is sinking as fast as two feet a year, because of over-pumping of groundwater, according to a new study by Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Lab.
As the drought continued, people dug deeper and deeper to extract water from the ground, and that’s taken a toll.
And as the ground sinks behind the water being pumped out, the aquifers don’t hold as much water afterwards.
And that means despite flooding in some parts of the state, the drought’s effects still reverberate.
David Lewis, another resident of the San Joaquin Valley who’s well has gone dry, is moving instead of digging a deeper well.
But the infrastructure that now brings water to their house itself is at threat due to the subsidence.
Groundwater pumping now puts at risk the very system that brings water to the San Joaquin Valley.
"In the past five years were weren’t seeing these mid-winter storms," says Alan Haynes, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service.
"No matter how much it snows during the rainy season, rising temperatures will continue to remove water from the state," says Ullrich.

Feds: Drought ends in San Joaquin.
Record Staff Writer @Alexbreitler After 1,892 days, the drought is over in San Joaquin County.
For San Joaquin, it is the first time since Dec. 27, 2011.
Portions of San Joaquin had still been considered "abnormally dry" heading into this week, but the U.S. Drought Monitor lifted that finding Thursday, citing an improvement in groundwater levels across the San Joaquin Valley.
Technically, the county and state remain under declared drought emergencies.
State officials have said they’ll review conditions in April, when the snowpack is usually at its peak and the water supply situation for the coming year is clearer.
Some, like the prohibition on hosing off streets or sidewalks, or using sprinklers within 48 hours of a storm, or allowing sprinkler water to escape from lawns, have been made permanent.
In a report published on Thursday, the Public Policy Institute of California says the state has over-tapped its groundwater by an average 2 million acre-feet per year over the past three decades, or an amount roughly equivalent to the state’s sixth-largest reservoir.
This ongoing water shortage is concentrated within the San Joaquin Valley, which faces "unprecedented challenges and inevitable change," the PPIC wrote.
— Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or abreitler@recordnet.com.

SCIENCE NEWS: NASA data show San Joaquin Valley still sinking; Contaminants in the Bay Delta; California’s rain may shed light on new questions about what causes earthquakes; Slower snowmelt in a warming world; and more ….
In science news this week: NASA data show California’s San Joaquin Valley still sinking; Tainted waters: Contaminants in the Bay Delta; California’s rain may shed light on new questions about what causes earthquakes; Defining snow drought and why it matters; Slower snowmelt in a warming world; USGS Publication: ‘State of the Salton Sea—A Science & Monitoring Meeting of Scientists for the Salton Sea’ and More; Restoring predators and prey together speeds recovery; Six things to know about coastal habitat restoration; Your water on drugs; and ‘Atmospheric rivers’ associated with California flooding also common in the southeast NASA data show California’s San Joaquin Valley still sinking: “Since the 1920s, excessive pumping of groundwater at thousands of wells in California’s San Joaquin Valley has caused land in sections of the valley to subside, or sink, by as much as 28 feet (8.5 meters).
Already, land subsidence has damaged thousands of public and private groundwater wells throughout the San Joaquin Valley.
… ” Read more from FishBio here: Tainted waters: Contaminants in the Bay Delta California’s rain may shed light on new questions about what causes earthquakes: “In recent weeks, California has experienced unusually heavy rainfall.
Earthquakes are triggered by a tiny additional increment of stress added to a fault already loaded almost to breaking point.
… ” Read more from EOS here: Defining snow drought and why it matters Slower snowmelt in a warming world: “As the world warms, mountain snowpack will not only melt earlier, it will also melt more slowly, according to a new study by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
“The Sun just isn’t providing enough energy at that time of year to drive high snowmelt rates.” … ” Read more from NCAR’s AtmosNews here: Slower snowmelt in a warming world USGS Publication: ‘State of the Salton Sea—A Science & Monitoring Meeting of Scientists for the Salton Sea’ and More!
: ” … The Salton Sea (Sea) is an ecosystem facing large systemic changes in the near future.
… ” Read more from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center here: Restoring predators and prey together speeds recovery Six things to know about coastal habitat restoration: “Did you know that NOAA’s Restoration Center has been restoring habitat for 25 years?
… ” Read more from Science Daily here: ‘Atmospheric rivers’ associated with California flooding also common in the southeast Maven’s XKCD Comic Pick of the Week … Sign up for daily email service and you’ll never miss a post!