California

KamaAina

(78,249 posts) Wed Jul 1, 2015, 02:03 PM Jul 2015

Drought Conditions Cause Central Valley Homes To Sink Into The Ground [View all]

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/06/29/drought-conditions-aquifer-el-nido-subsidence-cause-central-valley-homes-to-sink-into-the-ground/

Homes in a Central Valley neighborhood are the latest casualty of California’s historic drought. The parched, dry weather is causing them to literally sink into the ground....

“You could literally stand out by the sidewalk and look clear underneath the house to the back yard,” said contractor Gary Wake. “That’s how much the soil had shrunk under this house.”

More and more homes have begun to tilt, sink and crack in the neighborhood, and it has become clear that the reason lies underground. Drought conditions have made the earth beneath them so parched, it is affecting the aquifer, the underground layer of permeable, clay soil where water normally flows.

“We honestly believe that it has a lot to do with the drought, and the aquifer just being sucked out,” says Hall.

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Drought Conditions Cause Central Valley Homes To Sink Into The Ground [View all] KamaAina Jul 2015 OP

that's the site of the future great american desert Romeo.lima333 Jul 2015 #1

The west side of the San Joaquin Valley was, in fact, marked as desert KamaAina Jul 2015 #2

By definition, great parts of the western region of the San Joaquin valley are STILL a desert Brother Buzz Jul 2015 #11

And as the saturated clay layers subside, that's aquifer capacity that petronius Jul 2015 #3

You are correct. KamaAina Jul 2015 #4

"...and the aquifer just being sucked out� antiquie Jul 2015 #5

I will never understand why cotton is grown in places like Kern County KamaAina Jul 2015 #6

Take chowchillas elsewhere, too. (Nevermind) antiquie Jul 2015 #7

??? KamaAina Jul 2015 #8

I wondered if people eat chowchillas -- antiquie Jul 2015 #9

Are chinchillas particularly thirsty? KamaAina Jul 2015 #10