High resolution US water table depth estimates reveal quantity of accessible groundwater

High resolution US water table depth estimates reveal quantity of accessible groundwater | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article High resolution US water table depth estimates reveal quantity of accessible groundwater Reed Maxwell, Yueling Ma, Laura Condon, Julian Koch, Andrew Bennett, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6540988/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 14 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Groundwater is the largest accessible freshwater on Earth, yet its quantity and distribution remains unknown. Here we develop a high resolution (approximately 30m) estimate of water table depth over the continental United States using machine learning that includes groundwater pumping and uncertainty. This represents our most accurate estimate of accessible freshwater to date. We calculate total and accessible groundwater storage and results show that coarse resolution products are systematically biased in their estimates locally, where decisions are made, as well as at large scales. Our approaches are spatially extensive and locally relevant and thereby bridge a gap between remote sensing and point observations. Earth and environmental sciences/Hydrology Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformationcleanv20250418.pdf Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 14 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Communications Earth & Environment → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6540988","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":448944159,"identity":"0550e1b8-2b3d-4572-ad0a-5dfec8077287","order_by":0,"name":"Reed 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