An aquifer is an underground layer of water bearing rock. Many areas on earth have an underlying aquifer, which can supply fresh water through the use of a well. Aquifers were first tapped for water in the early 1900's for irrigation. Aquifers were originally believed to be an inexhaustible resource thus humans began tapping them for municipal and industrial uses as well (Aquifer, 2007). Now, many countries are over pumping aquifers in a struggle to fulfill their growing water supply demands. For example, in the United States, the water levels of the Ogallala aquifer have been lowered 100 feet at a rate of 40 times faster than nature can refill it (Lester, 2007). While aquifers are critical to human habitation and farming, they can be and are being over exploited.
There are several problems that can result from over exploitation of aquifers. Subsidence is a problem that occurs from groundwater extraction in unconsolidated aquifers. An unconsolidated aquifer is composed of porous......
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