HOUSTON (AP) _ NASA satellites have found that a historic drought parching Texas has depleted aquifers to lows rarely seen since 1948.
NASA hydrologist Matthew Rodell said Wednesday that such low levels have only been detected 2 percent of the time since mapping began 63 years ago. He says it’ll take months, and even years, to fully replenish the aquifers.
Rodell says the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment _ or GRACE _ satellites detect changes in the Earth’s gravity field caused by water redistribution on and beneath the surface of the earth.
The satellite data is combined with other information compiled by the University of Nebraska’s National Drought Mitigation Center.
Climatologist Brian Fuchs says the process has confirmed suspicion that the drought has significantly reduced the groundwater supply.
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