Figure 41. (Top) image showing satellite-based observations of changes in the Earth’s gravitational field that reflect reduction in water storage in California, from June 2002 to June 2008, to June 2014. Colors progressing from green to red indicate increasing water loss. Most of the reduction is focused in the Central Valley, due to increased groundwater extraction for agricultural use. Over the period from 2011-2014, the change in water storage in the Central Valley equates to a loss of about 4 trillion gallons, or 12 million acre-feet of water each year – almost the entire flow of the Colorado River. (
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