The Arizona Department of Water Resources has an excellent program to monitor a somewhat unique geologic hazard – land subsidence. Caused by compaction of valley sediments in areas of declining groundwater table, it can create significant problems for infrastructure such as drainage facilities, flood control works, and gravity flow utilities such as sewer lines. It can also induce a secondary geologic hazard, earth fissures. The ADWR has been using InSAR data supplemented with GPS surveying and other data since 1997 to monitor a number of land subsidence areas in Arizona. This is the first of what I presume will be a series of comprehensive reports on their program. [Source: Read the PDF report from the ADWR. Image: ADWR Land Subsidence Page]
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