#factors — Public Fediverse posts

Trend Is Not Destiny - Addressing Groundwater Depletion
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https://islandpress.medium.com/trend-is-not-destiny-addressing-groundwater-depletion-a0f2b969444b <-- shared technical article / ‘editorial’
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https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi1401 <-- shared technical article
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https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2026.1606354 <-- shared technical article
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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06879-8 <-- shared paper
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H/T @william Alley | Hydrogeologist, Author
“The phrase ‘Trend is Not Destiny’ was popularized by René Dubos, a prominent environmentalist in the 1960s and 70s. This simple phrase expresses the idea that just because a trend has been developing for some time does not mean it is locked in. Examples include bringing bald eagles back from the brink of extinction and regulating chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that were depleting stratospheric ozone. Ideally, the concept could be applied to groundwater depletion.
Groundwater is a critical resource. It accounts for about 95 percent of Earth’s unfrozen freshwater and occurs almost everywhere beneath the land surface. Groundwater is the primary source of drinking water for about half the world’s people, as well as the primary source of household water in rural areas. Worldwide, around 70 percent of groundwater pumped is used for agriculture, benefitting the entire continuum from small, poor farmers to giant agribusinesses. It’s also an integral part of the environment. During dry spells, rivers continue to flow because of groundwater. Many plants and animals depend upon groundwater discharge to springs, lakes, wetlands, and estuaries.
For decades, over pumping has depleted many of the world’s aquifers with far-reaching implications for global water supply, food security, and environmental quality. Yet for most of the public, groundwater is out of sight and out of mind. This lack of visibility contributes to significant challenges in water policy, governance, and management.
The challenges are far from new. In 1861 an Ohio court famously concluded that groundwater was too ‘secret, occult, and concealed’ to regulate (Frazier v. Brown 1861). Today, it is widely recognized that effective groundwater management and governance require meaningful engagement of local stakeholders in the decision-making process with people’s diverse values about the environment, property rights, livelihood, and equity coming into play..."
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