A hydrologist who monitors the world's water supply using satellite data told an audience at Kansas State University that water security is at risk worldwide. As part of a lecture series at Kansas State, Jay Famiglietti, from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said that 20 of the world’s major aquifers are being rapidly depleted, including the Ogallala Aquifer in western Kansas. He says a national water policy is necessary but, water regulations should be established at the local level.
Famiglietti says that in over half of the world's major aquifers is that food producers use more water than is available on an annual renewable basis and compensate for the shortfall by tapping groundwater from the aquifer. The Gardiner Global Food Systems Lecture Series aims to provide science-based education about the global food system.
