The United States has been pumping so much groundwater it's splitting the ground open. Brian Conway/AZGSBut humans are pumping groundwater faster than Earth can naturally replenish it. A giant fissure in the Mojave Desert in California from groundwater pumping near Lucerne Lake. And four out of every 10 sites hit "all-time lows" in the past decade as American groundwater pumping outpaces water replenishment, per the Times. As a result, the severity of excessive groundwater pumping nationwide is not as easy to recognize and may help explain why regulation on pumping is so limited.

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Persons: Brian Conway, Joseph Cook, Cook, Brian Gootee, Joesph Cook, it's, Warigia Bowman, RJ Sangosti Organizations: Service, Arizona Geological Survey, New York Times, Times, University of Tulsa, Queens, MediaNews, Denver, Getty, National Audubon Society Locations: States, Wall, Silicon, Arizona , Utah, California, Arizona, Lucerne Lake, Sulphur Hills, AZGS Arizona, Basin , Arizona, Colorado, Eads , Colorado, Picacho Basin