Community | March 11, 2011 | 17 comments

The Ogallala aquifer running dry: U.S. farmers fear return of the dust bowl

source: http://www.naturalnews.com/031658_aquifer_depletion_Ogallala.html

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JanforGore
It's the largest underground freshwater supply in the world, stretching from South Dakota all the way to Texas. It's underneath most of Nebraska's farmlands, and it provides crucial water resources for farming in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and even New Mexico. It's called the Ogallala Aquifer, and it is being pumped dry.

Without the Ogallala Aquifer, America's heartland food production collapses. No water means no irrigation for the corn, wheat, alfalfa and other crops grown across these states to feed people and animals. And each year, the Ogallala Aquifer drops another few inches as it is literally being sucked dry by the tens of thousands of agricultural wells that tap into it across the heartland of America.

This problem with all this is that the Ogallala Aquifer isn't being recharged in any significant way from rainfall or rivers. This is so-called "fossil water" because once you use it, it's gone. And it's disappearing now faster than ever.

In some regions along the aquifer, the water level has dropped so far that it has effectively disappeared -- places like Happy, Texas, where a once-booming agricultural town has collapsed to a population of just 595. All the wells drilled there in the 1950's tapped into the Ogallala Aquifer and seemed to provide abundant water at the time. But today the wells have all run dry.

Happy, Texas has become a place of despair. Dead cattle. Wilted crops. Once-moist soils turned to dust. And Happy is just the beginning of this story because this same agricultural tragedy will be repeated across Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas and parts of Colorado in the next few decades. That's a hydrologic fact. Water doesn't magically reappear in the Ogallala. Once it's used up, it's gone.

"There used to be 50,000 head of cattle, now there's 1,000," says Kay Horner in a Telegraph report (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/83...). "Grazed them on wheat, but the feed lots took all the water so we can't grow wheat. Now the feed lots can't get local steers so they bring in cheap unwanted milking calves from California and turn them into burger if they can't make them veal. It doesn't make much sense. We're heading back to the Dust Bowl."


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/031658_aquifer_depletion_Ogallala.html#ixzz1GLQaxFln
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17 comments // The Ogallala aquifer running dry: U.S. farmers fear return of the dust bowl

  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
    • 0
      COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM  

    • Jan, is there a preposed alternative way to manage the aquifer's use, supported by conservationists? Some might ask, if the aquifer will eventually run out, even with small farming and individual use, as opposed to giant agricultural use; which while shooting mass quantities of water through the air is hugely wasteful,
      what does it matter when it runs out?

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM:

      Yes, conserve it! Forms of irrigation that hold water to the ground. Planting more trees to hold water in the root systems. Planting crops that are not water intensive. Stopping the damn corn and soy subsidiess that engage farmers in the type of farming they engage in for $$$$$$$$$$$$ over caring for the land. And it matters because this acquifer feeds America and other countries. It matters now because it isn't being replenished due to drought exacerbated by climate change and overuse. It matters because it is a stark representation of a moral vacancy that now threatens the very existence of our species.

    • 1 year ago
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
    • 0
      COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM  
    • JanforGore:

      So it's current abuse and misuse, is symptomatic of the same destructive exploitation of our natural environment everywhere, by impersonal mega corporations.

      In that case, there is not a damn thing we can do about it until WE compel government to yield to the people's general will, relative to all of our needs, concerns and complaints.

      And this is why we are taking to the streets, and intend to overrun W.D.C. on May 5th! Will you be there? Certainly, the conservationists and preservationists need to be represented there. Are you in communication with them so that you can determine whether they are aware of our efforts yet?

    • 1 year ago
  • simplecj
    • 0
      simplecj  

    • Damn... more bad news. I'm getting so depressed over all the bad news lately. Kinda makes me just want to do a bunch of drugs and forget about it all. Seems like we're circling the drain anyways. What's the point if we're past the point of no return and the people in power can't/won't do anything about it?

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • The government doesn't care and people will continue to waste it and allow conmen like T. Boone Pickens buy it all up. Then when the fossil water of the Ogallala aquifer is GONE, when food can no longer be grown and the economy suffers even more as well as the environment when the Midwest turns into a dustbowl that will not recover as it once did because biodistress is now in the mix as people begin to literally starve to death, then and ONLY then will people on the whole sit up and say, "gee, why didn't we see this coming?" We humans are truly an incomprehensible species. And to think we have this notion that we are somehow omnipotent over this planet and have some destiny to be such. How the hell could we ever justify having the moral consciousness to possess such a distinction?

    • 1 year ago
  • ecoalex
    • +1
      ecoalex  

    • Eco farming here in the Sierra foothills 120 miles east of San Fran for 21 years, I've been thru 3 drought cycles.La Nino,La Ninas, do affect the precip/temps.We're into 2 years of normal to above normal precip.It doesn't rain here from mid April -mid October usually.Last Spring we had rain into mid May.This year a La Nina which is supposed to be dry/colder,we've had good rains starting in November. My 13 acre feet pond was full in December a first.Luckily we have plenty of water, even in drought years we have water.I irrigate a small amount .6 acre for corn alfalfa for hog poultry feed.I have 9 springs.My water comes from the Sierras,an underground river.

      In the San Joaquin valley the land has sunk from the aquifer pumping.I always wondered about the water quality after so many years of toxic chemicals applied for ag in these areas.In Ca the nitrate levels are very high from the dairy manure in feed lots.

    • 1 year ago
  • Angeliron
  • FLeggplant
    • +2
      FLeggplant  
    • Image

    • The news isn't good here in Florida either.
      Although, I haven't heard any news regarding the aquifer levels, the drought has been intense. We had a couple inches of rain over the past few days but before that it had been at least 6-8 weeks without any significant rain.
      FL used to be semi-tropical, raining at least once a week. Last summer, months went by with little to no rain.
      Thanks for posting this info. It's important news.

      http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/drought/

    • 1 year ago
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
    • 0
      COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM  
    • FLeggplant:

      The principal aquifer in Florida has been dropping precipitously for decades, due to drainage of the Everglades, redirection of the surface water into canals and out into the ocean and the ever increasing usage of water due to urban sprawl. The tables have dropped so low near the coastline that saltwater is back flowing into the fresh water table, which will ultimately render them useless.
      Hence, the water restrictions enacted in recent years. Florida without water is a very unattractive place to be. This is only one of the reasons there has been such a push to restore the Everglades. It isn't for the birds alone. Well, maybe if you include the snowbirds it is.

    • 1 year ago
  • gatormouth
    • +2
      gatormouth  

    • This reminds me of the story of the crashing of the Grand Banks fishery. Both stories are monuments to man's inability to manage resources when there are quick profits to be made. Repubs seem to be in a hurry on this. Now they are trying to disband the EPA! Good call! Money Money, Money, Money, Money!

    • 1 year ago
  • EmileZ
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
  • JanforGore
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
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