Looming El Niño Weather Pattern Will Have an Effect But It Won’t End Our Water Challenges

You may be somewhat familiar with La Niña and El Niño, the cyclical weather patterns that impact much of the planet. They typically last 9-12 months but can sometimes last for years.

We’re just coming out of a three-year La Niña cycle and most weather experts predict El Niño starting this summer. La Nina usually creates much drier conditions in the southern U.S. and heavy rains and flooding in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. It causes the opposite in Australia and Southern Africa with rains and flooding. NOAA climate definitions

El Niño promises to bring relief to the southern U.S. in terms of much wetter conditions, although the mid-west from the Texas Panhandle to Canada will see warmer and drier conditions. In Australia and southern Africa, they will likely see below-normal rainfall.

For those areas expecting relief from drought, they may also experience other problems like flooding and erosion. In addition, as we have seen from these cycles stretching back over one hundred years, the relief can be temporary, and the problem comes back with a vengeance.

Will this be the Hottest Year On Record?

This year, some climatologists are forecasting the hottest year on record. They claim temperatures are already warmer than normal, and with a strong El Niño, it could send global average temperatures to a record high. Climate change data

Securing Our Water Supply

Regardless of the El Niño effect, our water challenges aren’t going away. A short-term outlook is not a long-term solution.

As we all know, the climate is a dynamic system, constantly changing. Farmers, ranchers, towns, and cities must all plan for the challenges of securing enough usable water regardless of the weather cycles.

And, there is plenty of available water. The U.S. National Groundwater Association estimates there are 22.6 million cubic kilometers of groundwater in the upper two kilometers of the earth’s crust NGWA facts. That is enough water to supply Earth for over 6,000 years at today’s global consumption rates. Most of this water is located deeper than the water currently being extracted from wells around the world, but it is increasingly more accessible with new exploration technologies. Tapping just a fraction of this largely untapped vast resource can supplement our current water supplies sustainably for hundreds of years.

Technology innovator AquaterreX is helping to locate fresh groundwater for farmers and ranchers, even “where others say there is none.” The new technology which originated in Australia, the world’s driest inhabited continent, was introduced in the United States in 2020. Improvements made since then have elevated the ability to locate groundwater, including Deep Seated Water to near-100% accuracy.

AquaterreX combines satellite imagery, geologic, atmospheric, and other geospatial data with patented ground survey instrumentation to locate groundwater sources accurately and which can be reached economically. “It is remarkable that farmers and ranchers in the U.S. are still using dowsing (also known as water witching) to try and find water. That centuries-old technique more often than not results in expensive “dry holes,” said James D’Arezzo, Chairman and CEO of AquaterreX.

AquaterreX has been serving farmers and ranchers primarily in the arid regions of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona over the past few years. Recently, the company introduced a program to assist agriculture by offering a free groundwater assessment to farmers and ranchers with 200 or more acres that will provide a free written preliminary assessment of groundwater potential by a Senior Geologist/Hydrogeologist. The assessment will reveal if a property has positive indications of Deep Seated Water and other groundwater potential. “The fact is, there are huge amounts of water available; you just have to know where to find it.” Said D’Arezzo.

Over 1500 water wells have been produced using this technology on four continents. As such, the AquaterreX solution can become a game changer. Apply for your Free Groundwater Assessment at the link above.

Even though El Niño is predicted, it does not look like it will end water challenges for drought-stricken regions. AquaterreX can help you locate clean, sustainable, and abundant fresh water to solve your water challenges.