groundwater removal

Many communities around the world rely on pumping groundwater for various purposes, including irrigation and water supply. Over-pumping groundwater can lead to the lowering of the water table, causing subsidence or sinking of the land surface. This subsidence increases the risk of sinkhole formation, as the ground becomes more prone to collapsing into underground cavities that were previously supported by groundwater.

Precipitation that sinks into the ground is called Groundwater.

Water in the ground occupies the volume between the individual grains of material in the rock or soil from which the ground is composed. Thus wet clay, for example, will shrink in volume as it drys out and cracks may appear too. A similar thing will occur if groundwater is removed and the land dries out - it will shrink (subsidence) and cracks may also appear.

The removal of water from aquifers, such as fine grained sediments. The rock compacts because water is partly responsible for holding the ground up, and when the water is removed, the rock falls on itself.An excessive extraction of groundwater is the primary reason for land subsidence. This is particularly a problem in the southwestern United States.