An added problem is that when rain does come, it seems to come in more extreme downpours. There is a partial solution to this. Get absolutely fanatic about having beavers in all the river catchments. By holding the water on the land during these severe rainfall events, water is directed down into the ground instead of flowing straight down to the sea and being wasted. Beavers cause the ground water to be recharged.

Approximately 5000 years ago, The Sahara was a lush jungle with lots of rivers and lakes. The earth is always changing.

How about all the water that Nestle is pumping everyday?

I'm sure somewhere in this conversation there's a new tax.

The main problem is that people are focused on LeBron's new jersey & what one of the Kardashian family tweeted instead of such literally earth-shattering issues of today. Tick tock. The planet will continue on with or without human civilization.

Holy crap!! CA won't break off in the Pacific, it'll just lower so much, the Pacific will breach and then CA will be under water!

In the 1860's there was so much rain in California's central valley you could actually sail from San Francisco bay to the outskirts of Bakersfield.

During the Civil War, the entire San Juaquin Valley was under water. Many towns were wiped forever off the map. Marysville and Sacramento rebuilt after it finally dried out. They had nothing to drain the rivers to the ocean. From south of Bakersfield where the mountain range starts and up to Redding and the mountains of Mt. Shasta were under water. There was no coverage of this due to the Civil War. I researched it and saw many photos. Huge disaster. California has been underwater before and in very recent times. We are not as safe as we would like to think we are.

California use to be the place everybody wanted to go now everybody's running away

Nothing will be done until they're faced with an absolute crisis.

'Nearly half of the nation's fruits, nuts and vegetables are grown in California' ...Ain't THAT the truth!

We lived on a farm outside Palmdale. Our well level kept going down (29feet down, then 50, then 75 feet, 85 feet last) as greedy contractors and landowners kept sucking out more water. Rich guys like WallStreetJournal and Buffet say water will be the next oil.

Tip: reaching under an overhanging slab into the shady interior of a potential rattlesnake habitat is probably unwise.

For all that they've spent on pumping up ground water, they could have built desalinization plants and transferred ocean water inland.

Billions and Billions of tax payers dollars are also be wasted on a failing "high speed rail" project in this area too.

The Imperial Valley was once, millennia ago, under water and connected to the ocean. An uplift closed it off from the ocean, and over a million years it filled in with blown dust. So it will subside and form a long, deep valley much like it was when under water.

I hated living in California. Excessively high taxes, phenomenal traffic congestion, declining infrastrure and a closed minded political system that says only our way is correct.

I would like to an update on on this as it has been a few years and wondering how much has sank since and how the water has affected crops. Very informative video thank you

And this was 4 years ago. I wonder how it's progressed since then.

What’s really scary is when all those politicians pack up and leave what’ll be their new home states...now that’s bone chilling🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

Calli Politicians are sucking the life right out of that beautiful state

The smartest and most sensible folks are or have already moved from California. So, too bad for the rest!

What's the status now?

It's falling apart everywhere!!! Too much pocketing goin on!!!!

2018 and my friends in CA aren't out of the woods yet. Mother Nature ALWAYS has the last word. This is how deserts are formed . . . RE-formed in many cases. If these areas are not covered with natural grasses, shrubs and/or crops to hold it in place when the rains return, flooding is guaranteed. Time to get my garden enlarged.

Video was October 9th 2015! What's going on in May of 2019? Seems like they've been getting rain the last couple of years.

One of the laws of physics: For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction. No room to wiggle. The old professor

The most interesting part is all the food we grow in this country and we send it overseas as we get the same products backs from other ones. So stupid

california showed as an island on older maps . So I guess its returning to its origin

I have a sinking feeling California's days are numbered. I'll watch from high ground.

With the way that state is being run sinking in the ocean is probably the best thing for it..

Ok , it’s August 2019, a year later and as usual, just kick the can down the road until there is no can to kick Winter 2020 good luck California

It's now 2019...what's the follow up in this story??

One of these days. some genius is going to wake up and ask "What in the hell have we done?" By then and it might be too late now it WILL be too late.

Build dams, and reservoirs, like your grandfathers had planned. Or don’t.,hows that speed rail working out in Fresno? How much water could have been saved with those funds?

Now all that poop and trash on the streets will end up in the ocean?

If.... California would manage their waterways. Reservoirs build dams to keep what comes from the sky. They would never need to drill.

If you take water from the ground then you sink and sink because there are big spaces under the ground

4 years later, not a major problem

People in general don't think of what is beneath the ground, that the earth is spinning, that it is flying around the sun with the other planets in our solar system, expanding and more. What will happen if an area where a lot of fracking has been done? We know they cause earthquakes strong enough to damage homes. Islands are sinking even though they are doing nothing to cause it other than home use water. We think too small and too slow.

Did you mention that all this well drilling was specifically caused by the restrictions placed on the use of river water...to protect the Delta Smelt?

If it wasn't for Los Angeles, water from the American River could be used to irrigate the central valley. It appears grass lawns in LA are more important than this damage to the most productive farmland on Earth. Only in California. ....

Almonds use up more water than all the other crops combined. They were planted to absorb excess water so farmers didn't have to give it up.

Is there anything I can do to help speed up this process?

What ever the solution the Politicians will just blame and tax normal people.

When that guy stuck his hand in the crack I thought for sure he was going to get bit by a rattlesnake for a split second

I made a suggestion to a guy one time .if you can pipe oil why not water from other ares ,like Oregon or Washington state.that guy came unglued .but I said just during the rainy season ,pump it back in the aquifer

So, rice will be our new bumper crop ?

Nothing is forever. All things must pass. That is history's lesson.

in excessive pumping up and using ground water, there is also the danger of higher mineral salts layering and destroying the surface soil for agricultural purposes ~

From 1:41 to 1:49 there is a road and bridge behind her.. Are they saying that road and bridge were also repaired over time dropping by that much?

Your Grandfather left Texas for California? Well, that was a mistake right there. Hello from Houston.

That’s ok.... we have been waiting for that Oceanside property in AZ for a while now. Let it fall in the ocean....

Can't just blame pumping of ground water by farmers and cities. A very large portion of mountain snow melt that use to run out into the San Joaquin Valley is very efficiently captured and diverted to southern california rather than recharging the aquafer. And of course less rain and snow means less water for everyone.

2019, I think it will burn up before it sinks...

There are countries which have perfected desalination - why can't the USA?

I don’t think it’s possible for California the sink any further than they have in the last couple years

CA was predicted to fall into the sea 50-60 years ago because of the plates moving underground along with other areas around the world. Changes that have happened since Day one along with environment, weather patterns, many recorded by those who witness them at those times. Mankind needs to make changes and adapt like plants/animals always have.

Wouldn't this create a massive sink hole as the pressure in the place of the underground water being pumped would change so there's not as much holding the land up above ?

Keep up the good work and let it sink below sea level🌊🎉

What about desalinization sea water plants to pump and replace water from underground - it sounds nuts and costly but it will cost more yearly for flood damages and etc...

how long befor it is part of the ocean and you are right california dose produce a lot of nuts

I'm living in southern California NOW, in July, 2019. I don't really believe it is sinking, but what IS true is, more and MORE new houses are being built, MORE new apartment buildings are taking up more space less than 10 miles from the beach, and two-story houses have already been built on those TALL Palos Verdes mountains, NO, I don't live in those,thank goodness. These are absolute facts, now, at this moment.

I remember as a teenager in 70s how much the land had dropped even then. So 40 +years ago it may be in line for a biblical drench. Not to mention the salt accumulation

Picture of 40 plus feet subsidence near Mendota in my 1968 Geology 101 textbook. More water can be stored in the Valley underground aquifer than by any number of reservoirs added to the Calif. Rivers. The benefit of storing underground in plus water years, less subsidence.

We in CA feed the nation...but Jerry Moonbeam and now Gaven Noisesome would rather take down dams and let water run into the Pacific. To 'save the planet' no doubt. God bless the farmers.

Overthrow the government and save California.

I read the title a few times---Hurray!!! Is there a way to speed this process up?

This might also contribute to sinkholes as well. It`s a difficult problem considering the farmers do need the water and these farms feed most of the nation not to mention exports. Some kind of task force should be put in place to consider different options.

If California floods they can grow RICE!!

So this is why you can’t take a shower and do laundry in the same day here!

Blame Mulholland for stealing the water and giving it to 11 million people in Los Angeles.

In California when I was a kid, farmers were fighting over water, that was 50 years ago. Moving away from there was the best thing I ever did. California is the insane asylum of the US.

Don't worry because more taxes will solve the problem.

I assume that pumping out millions of barrels of oil per day, will also cause such land to eventually cave in. That region is not alone, when it comes to that fate

ppffttttt! i'm a native Californian and have been hearing this old scare story about California sinking for the past 3 decades. this video was published 4 years ago, the dessert is still dry and California isnt any wetter than what its always been.

Both the US and Russia have been hit hard with loss of cattle, crops. Seasonal planting is gone for many. Food prices will rise.

I appreciate you taking the time to research and write this article. There are multiple simple solutions to stop this process. Plenty of water and can easily be redirected to refill the water table. Now if we can just get the state to stop creating the drought conditions we will have solved the farmers problems. If you want to do something about this contact me.

There's been a lot of rain so far and that's a good thing, but with a lot of rain comes a lot of plant growth. And since "people" won't let them touch the plants, controlled burns/clearing, come dry season expect bigger fires next year!

The Anglese basin has been sinking since the oil draw of the signal hills exploration. CattleMen hills in southwestern Central valley has a inpressive subsidance since the oil work there. It is the water table drop in the Central valley that is disturbing as the recharge will take years since the rivers out of the Sierra are dammed.

Insane stats. 25 years? Holy moly. But also the insurance companies growing water guzzling cash crops like almonds to make up for their losses (probably from 08-09) is pretty crazy.

This is what happens when you have people that are running your state that don't know what they're doing. During the times of lots of rain and flooding you should have reservoirs ready to contain those waters for use but you are so set on the idea the climate is getting hotter and it will never change that you are not thinking about mother nature and that this has been happening over the span of time that the Earth has been here the Earth gets warmer it gets colder and it's not because we have cars and it's not because we have cows that fart it's because it is the way it is. To keep California green you're going to have to have reservoirs that contain the water that falls from the sky and not let that water run into the ocean. Is there any reason the Farmers can't have their own reservoirs?

How could the land sink this much 1:45 and not damage the road beds, homes and buildings in the area?

So, how can I contribute to flooding CA? Seems like a good solution to fix all their problems in one go!

Learn To Swim See You Down At Arizona Bay --- TOOL

Couldn't the subsidence be caused by now-empty underground caverns/streams that have been emptied of their water for irrigation? Much of California is almost desert and needs a lot of water to grow crops.

I'm sad for this country at least I'm in Canada

The Oroville Dam supplies California farmers 60% of their water. This water comes from the mountain streams and rivers. Whats happening underground is mostly from fracking. You cant remove that much oil and gas without some consequences. Look at how much drilling into the crust is going on in the southern part of the valley. Millions of wells litter the area. And look where most of the sinking is occurring

Hurry, send them biodegradable life vests. The ones that dissolve when wet.

Finally some good news....But if it does sink I imagine Liberals will say the sea has risen

Fantastic! Right into the Pacific

The world would be better off if Hollywood and the entire west coast went away.

"More than half the nation's fruits . . . and nuts are produced here." I already knew that.

So everyplace they find ground sunk it will be lakes and ponds we the rains and snow melt, and they can grow rice

I had no idea the subsidance was that bad. Of course we all know the state has gravely mismanaged it's its water table.

When big pharming goes under, how about small sustainable farms to replace them? No damage to earth? What????

Sinkholes, earthquakes coming?

Curious if there is an update status for 2018?

To say California produces most of the country's nuts is an understatement

Ill never understand why they decide to farm in the deserts...