Outside of any global warming scare tactics, ground water depletion IS a local problem in some areas.
The image in the immediate left in the link below shows a man next to a pole that marks what “ground level” was in that area of the central valley of California in 1925 (a good 60+ feet higher), 1955 and 1977. Clearly this is not a new phenomena and clearly it has more to do with how water is being used than “global warming”.
http://ca.water.usgs.gov/projects/central-valley/land-subsidence-monitoring-network.html
Yes it is a stunning photo, even more so in that was one of the ‘wettest’ periods in the last 7000 years:
California drought: Past dry periods have lasted more than 200 years, scientists say
“...the past century has been among the wettest of the last 7,000 years.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_24993601/california-drought-past-dry-periods-have-lasted-more