Underground Aquifer

Since 1900, the U.S. has pulled enough water from underground aquifers to fill two Lake Eries. And in just the first decade of the 21st century, we've [extracted:removed] underground water sufficient to raise global sea level by more than 2 percent. We suck up 25 cubic kilometers of buried water per year. That's the message from the U.S. Geological Survey's [evaluation:quotation] of how the U.S. is managing its aquifers. Or mismanaging. For example water levels in the aquifer that underlies the nation's breadbasket have dropped in some places by as [much:mass] as 160 feet. The rest of the world isn't doing any better. A conference of water scientists just issued the so-called Bonn Declaration, which [declares:indicates] that this lack of foresight will cause the majority of people alive in 2050 to face "severe" freshwater shortages. Mismanagement of water resources is a hallmark of this new human-dominated [era:people] in the Earth's geologic history, known as the Anthropocene.