Water Well Journal

September 2015

Water Well Journal

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The Heavyweight Champ High Quality Valves Built To Last… New 80DIVFD New special patent-pending submersible pump check valve for use with variable-frequency drive (VFD) control pumps. Standard check valves will "chatter" and be noisy when a VFD goes to low flow, causing eventual failure. The unique Model 80DIVFD unit is designed to minimize flow losses and hydraulic shocks in the pumping system. It features a standard epoxy coat- ing (NSF ® approved powder) ductile iron body to support deep set pumps. It's another winner from Flomatic…Call for complete information at 800-833-2040 or visit us on the web at www.flomatic.com Shown with optional break-off plug High Quality Valves Built to Last… the past year. At 5.3%, the unemployment rate is bumping up against the level that Federal Reserve policymakers consider full employment. In congressional testimony in July, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said "homebuilding has picked up somewhat lately, although the demand for housing is still being restrained by limited availability of mortgage loans to many potential homebuyers." That makes it harder for buyers to take advantage of mort- gage rates that remain at historically low levels. Housing starts rose 9.8% to a 1.17 million annualized rate, the second-highest level since November 2007, as ground- breaking on multifamily dwellings jumped 29.4%. Housing starts are important to the water well industry as it can indicate possible construction of new water well systems. Cities' Food Supplies 'Eating' into Groundwater Reserves T he Los Angeles Times reports a study looked at the foods that groundwater is used to grow—and who gets to eat them. Researchers wanted to know who eats the food produced with water from the most depleted aquifers in the United States. They looked at three of the most overdrawn groundwa- ter systems in the country: the High Plains aquifer in the Mid- west, the Mississippi Embayment aquifer in the Southeast, and the Central Valley aquifer in California. For each system, the researchers examined how much groundwater was withdrawn for agricultural irrigation, how many crops were produced using the groundwater, and how much water each type of crop consumed until ready for harvest. They used publicly available data for their research: U.S. Geological Survey estimates of groundwater withdrawals for irrigation, U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates of crop production, and Water Footprint Network estimates of how much water each type of crop needs to grow to maturity. Researchers were able to calculate the amount of ground- water from each aquifer that was embodied in the crops and where those crops were eaten. They used figures from 2005 and 2007, as those were the most recent years that detailed data were available. About 70% of the freshwater pumped from America's aquifers in 2005 was used for agriculture and livestock production, the USGS reported. Of the groundwater from the three aquifers that did go to economic use, 32% went to producing meat and animal feed, 32% went to growing grains and manufacturing grain prod- ucts, 28% was used to grow oils and make other processed foods, and 8% was pumped to grow fruits, vegetables, and nuts. The researchers found about 13% of the water pulled from the three aquifers is delivered in the form of food to people in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Riverside, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. Nearly a third of the water in the Central Valley aquifer grows food for people in the Los Angeles area, the San Fran- NEWS continues on page 12 WWJ September 2015 11 Twitter @WaterWellJournl

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