The Earth’s Fresh Water Aquifers Are Depleting

The total amount of fresh water on earth is a precious commodity. Only 4% of all the Earth’s water is ‘fresh water’, and most of it (~ 70% of the 4%) is unavailable and locked up in ice caps and glaciers. That leaves approximately 30% of the 4%, most of which is deep underground (only 0.0067% is above ground in lakes and rivers!). In the big picture of things, that’s not so much fresh water compared to all water on Earth.

The problem is, new NASA data shows “how the world is running out of water”. More than half of Earth’s 37 largest aquifers are being depleted, according to gravitational data from the GRACE satellite system.

The preparedness-minded know that water is a most precious resource. For some it is plentiful, but for others it is scarce or non-existent. The residents of California are now discovering the value of fresh water as they themselves run out. As their severe drought continues, they will be shocked as to what is about to happen (crashing real estate prices, water ‘wars’, and even exodus).

This underscores the recent NASA report which indicates that the world’s largest underground aquifers – a source of fresh water for hundreds of millions of people — are being depleted at alarming rates – including California which is currently tapping aquifers for 60 percent of its water use as its rivers and above-ground reservoirs dry up. Some expect water from aquifers will account for virtually every drop of the state’s fresh water supply by year end.

Aquifers can take thousands of years to fill up and only slowly recharge with water from snow-melt and rains. Now, as great demand has been placed on water from aquifers across the globe, the water reservoirs are being stressed.

California’s Central Valley Aquifer was the most troubled in the United States. Also running a negative balance was the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains Aquifer, which stretches across the southeast coast and Florida.

While there is no eminent fresh water aquifer catastrophe (depending on one’s definition), it is a wake-up call especially for those who live in dry regions – that not only is surface water becoming scarce or non-existent in drought regions, but the aquifers themselves have become stressed and are depleting much faster than they are replenishing.

Most of you know that three days without water and you’re ‘toast’… right?

Total Percent Of Fresh Water Remaining On The Surface Of The Earth Is Shockingly Small

The total amount of fresh water on earth is a precious commodity, and although you might think there’s plenty of it – when you comprehend the following statistics and put it in perspective, it may seem otherwise…

Only 0.000067 of the total water on earth is available on the surface as non-saline fresh water in our rivers, lakes, and streams.

That’s just 1/150th of one percent of the total water on the planet! 0.0067 percent. That’s how precious our fresh water is.

That tiny slice is illustrated as follows:

Most of the water within the Water Cycle of the earth is saline (salt) in the oceans.
In fact, approximately 96% of all water on the planet is salt water.

Of the remaining approximate 4 percent of the earth’s total water (the ‘fresh’ water), most of it is unavailable and locked up in ice caps and glaciers (68.7 percent).

30 percent (of the 4 percent fresh water) is deep in the ground.

That leaves just 1.3 percent (of the 4 percent fresh water) — of which 70 percent is in ground ice and permafrost…

…which leaves just 30 percent (of the 1.3 percent of the 4 percent total fresh water) to be fresh (non-saline) water on the surface of the earth!

Within that tiny remaining slice, we have our fresh water in lakes, swamps, marshes, rivers, soil and the atmosphere.

When you wrap your head around that, you may realize that our fresh water is a precious commodity, especially knowing that we as humans literally cannot survive much beyond a few or several days without it…

Data sources:
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Igor Shiklomanov’s chapter “World fresh water resources” of “Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World’s Fresh Water Resources” (Oxford University Press, Peter H. Gleick, 1993)
Water volume, in cubic miles

Total water on earth: 332,511,874
Total fresh water*: 11,511,874
Total fresh water**: 8,403,384

Ice Caps, Glaciers and Permanent Snow: 5,773,000
Groundwater (non-saline): 2,526,000
Ground Ice and Permafrost: 71,970
Lakes (non-saline): 21,830
Soil Moisture: 3,959
Atmosphere: 3,095
Swamp: 2,752
Rivers: 509
Biological: 269

*including saline portion of lake and groundwater
**excluding saline portion of lake and groundwater
When making plans for survival preparedness, fresh drinking water should be a top priority. Don’t take it for granted. Know where sources are (beyond that of your faucet tap) and have a means to purify it for drinking.

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