It is starting to look like we need to find a new planet to wreck, doesn't it? A couple of years ago I was going to buy a horse ranch in Nevada (near Winnemucca) In the process, I talked to a couple of well drillers in the area.
Very educational. Even in the desert there are underground streams running, you just have to drill down to them. The Truckee river which run through Reno goes a few miles out of town and just disappears! It apparently goes into an underground channel like this one in Germany was. As the water table sinks lower look to see more of these sinkholes show up.