Sadly the current economic incentives seem to reward removing water from aquifers. Obviously there's direct pumping, but moreso land use changes that stop grou

Sadly the current economic incentives seem to reward removing water from aquifers. Obviously there's direct pumping, but moreso land use changes that stop groundwater infiltration: losing wetlands and forests to pavement, roofs, poorly-designed agricultural drainage, and even regularly-mowed grass which develops subsoil hardpan. Any would-be groundwater is diverted into flash flood runoff and overloaded storm sewer systems. The ultimate end to this poor land/hydrology management is desertification, where ~zero water is stored on the land and all water immediately drains off in a torrent.