A Los Angeles Times story last week said the U.S. Geological Survey is starting up a new round of study on the San Joaquin Valley's sinking west-side landscape.

The story made it sound as if increased ground-water pumping was the sole cause of the subsidence. The story did not fully explain what's going on in the west Valley -- and all over the world, actually. It's a part of nature that ground-water pumping is exaggerating.

The ground in many places -- including the west side -- has been settling for thousands of years. This valley is filled with sediments several miles deep in some places from millions of years of runoff from the Sierra. It sinks over time.

As ground water has been pumped out over the last century, it has caused faster compaction of the soil. The ground has sunk dramatically in some cases.

But, don't be fooled by the latest story. This region was once a vast inland sea with soil beneath that easily compacts. It will continue with or without pumping.

The main reason the government is spending $225,000 to precisely study the dipping now is that the California Aqueduct is being affected. If the canal sinks too far, it starts leaking. And that water is supposed to be going to millions of Southern Californians.