Severe Drought Explains Ground Level Rise in Western US

The severe drought gripping the western United States in recent years is causing the region's ground level to literally rise up, according to a new study.

The loss of groundwater has been so extreme that it lifted the West an average of one-sixth of an inch since 2013, according to the study, published in the journal Science.

More than just browning lawns, the research shows that the lack of water is causing an "uplift" effect as Earth's tectonic plates shift. California's snow-starved mountains rose up to 15 millimeters (more than half an inch) and on average four millimeters (0.15 of an inch) across the west.

From GPS data, scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego estimate that theses drought-ridden places are losing out on 62 trillion gallons of water - that's equivalent to a six-inch layer of water spread out over the entire western United States.