as a result it is seen by farmers as an attractive reliable and easily accessible source of water garrido and iglesias and is highly popular for this reason garduno and foster while agriculture is a significant contributor to the recharge of shallow aquifers both via surface and groundwater irrigation taylor et al nonrenewable abstraction reached km year or of gross irrigation demand in and had more than tripled since wada et al due in part to increased climate variability which affects access to surface water groundwater resources are increasingly used to the point of being exploited beyond recharge in multiple agricultural regions taylor et al this situation has made groundwater use one of the most important challenges for agriculture oecd e continued abstraction results in falling water tables which in turn increases the cost of pumping and can create a race to the bottom among producers