Several centimeters of man-induced elastic expansion of the lithosphere is inferred to have been caused by the depletion and removal from the area of large masses of groundwater in parts of Arizona, California, and Texas. The water was removed principally by evapotranspiration by crops of groundwater pumped from aquifers. Arguments for elastic expansion are based on both theoretical estimates and comparison with the elastic deformations observed at Lake Mead and Lake Kariba, where comparable masses of water were loaded on the earth's surface. In one area, south central Arizona, 6 cm of crustal uplift observed from 198 to 1967 may be related to the removal of 4 4.35¿1013 kg of groundwater. First, if the observed uplift is assumed to be due to man-induced unloading, a Young's modulus of the lithosphere of approximately 0.68 Mbar is implied, which is comparable to values reported elsewhere. Second, the uplift compares favorably with the depression caused by the formation of Lake Mead, 430 km northwest of the study area, when allowance is made for the different magnitudes, sense, and areas of surface loading.