Study: There's a lot more water hidden underneath California than previously thought

The Delta-Mendota Canal in Los Banos, California.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Researchers at Stanford University uncovered some good news deep underneath California: groundwater in aquifers 1,000 to 3,000 feet underground.

With this discovery, the team found that the state has three times more groundwater than earlier estimated, the Los Angeles Times reports. "It's not often that you find a 'water windfall,' but we just did," study co-author Robert Jackson told Stanford News Service.

Because the water source is so much deeper than traditional aquifers, it would likely cost a lot of money to get to it and require special engineering. The researchers also said that the quality of the water is questionable, and desalination might be necessary. The study was published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.