Researchers have long known there was some kind of aquifer in the Cascade Mountains that feeds rivers like the McKenzie and the Deschutes. But they never knew just how big it might be — until now, that is. A new study found that the Central Oregon aquifer holds 80 cubic kilometers of water, roughly three times the size of Nevada’s Lake Mead.

Leif Karlstrom is an associate professor of earth sciences at the University of Oregon. He led the study and joins us with more details on what the discovery could mean for the region — and why we shouldn’t view it as a water windfall