Don’t forget the article says 400 years at todays consumption rate.
When they start irrigating, and more people start moving in to reap the irrigation harvest, today’s consumption rate will be a drop in the bucket.
Today not many people in an arid environment waste water, their consumption rate is low. When it becomes plentiful all that will stop.
“...today’s consumption rate...”
The local king will have an enormous fountain built. The water will last for a year after they tap it.
Irrigate an arid environment sufficiently and the microclimate will be altered to less arid via evaporation. Deserts come and go, tremendous ancient cities are buried in desert sands. This region, too, was once much less arid. That groundwater didn’t just materialize out of thin air.
Very true and my first thought, too. Nonetheless, it could prove a blessing if only it's exploited wisely. Dim prospects for that, I suspect.