After the water table below Stratford dropped an astounding 100 feet in the past two years, it set off a slow-motion collapse of the ground underfoot, crushing part of a town well.
Repairs were made quickly, but the crumpled well holds significance beyond this Kings County town of 1,200. After three dry seasons — the last one being one of the driest on record — summer havoc has begun for west San Joaquin Valley groundwater.
Some west-side wells have dropped nearly 200 feet over the past two years, nearing historic low points dating back to the 1950s, the U.S. Geological Survey says.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” says USGS hydrologist Michelle Sneed, who has been studying Valley groundwater for the past two decades.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/07/19/4031791/west-side-san-joaquin-valley-water.html