The news isn't all grim, as the authors noted that in 16% of the aquifer systems that suffered groundwater declines in the 1980s and 1990s, the trend was actually reversed.

The world’s groundwater aquifers are taking a beating. Decades of unrestrained pumping by thirsty farms and fast-growing cities have drained these underground rock beds, which hold more than 95 ...

In places around the world, supplies of groundwater are rapidly vanishing. As aquifers decline and wells begin to go dry, people are being forced to confront a growing crisis.

As groundwater gets pumped up, the emptied-out space can collapse under the weight of the rock and soil above it. Once that happens, the aquifer loses the ability to hold water, permanently ...

In the Great Plains, the Ogallala Aquifer (a massive underground reservoir stretching from Texas to South Dakota) is becoming depleted in many places as farmers draw on the region’s groundwater ...