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Water Wired blog: California’s Delta may be sinking, but the Dutch did it first

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 27, 2009 at 8:08 am

From the Water Wired blog:

“The current (29 November 2009) issue of the weekly Christian Science Monitor has a nice little story [which you won't find on the CSM's WWW site] by Douglas Fox about the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta’s sinking problem, brought about primarily by the oxidation of the organic materials in the soil caused by drainage of the marshy lands so that they could be farmed. Lowering of the water table allowed oxygen to penetrate the soil, fueling microbial growth, which consumed organic detritus. Upshot: land sinks (around 2 inches per year) and CO2 is produced.

But for me, that was not the intriguing part of the story. What was fascinating to learn was that the Dutch did The-netherlands the same thing to their country: they drained it, lowering the water table, allowing oxygen to penetrate the soil and fuel microbe growth – you now know the drill. … “

Read from the Water Wired blog by clicking here.

November 27, 2009 · Filed Under Delta Issues

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