Unintended Consequences

The LA Times has a story out today highlighting a new danger posed by California's ongoing drought:

Scientists suspect that parts of the San Joaquin Valley have started to sink again after years of stability, a troubling development that geologists say can be traced to increased pumping of groundwater.

State water managers are worried that falling land surfaces could damage the California Aqueduct, which carries water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the valley and Southern California.

One more example of why water management needs to be approached in a holistic, all encompassing way in order to capture all the threats and opportunities for any given scenario. Just think, if that philosophy had been applied here, this threat to a major component of Southern California's water supply could have been identified, mitigated and possibly entirely avoided.