DISASTROUS DEPLETION OF THE OGALLALA AQUIFER
CONTAINS 30% OF FRESH US DRINKING WATER
The huge Ogallala Aquifer (also known as the High Plains Aquifer), which covers an area from Texas to North Dakota, is being depleted by agribusiness and desert development at an alarming rate.
Maybe you never heard of the Ogallala, but when it's gone, it will most definitely affect the quality of your life. Although you can't see the aquifer (unless you count water evaporating into the air from inefficient irrigation), it's depletion is one more example of unsustainable agricultural practices. These are the same practices that create Dead Zones in the Gulf of Mexico and other seas and oceans around the world. Although the rate of depletion has been slowed due to conservation efforts, the fact remains that the aquifer's rate of natural replacement is negligible. Think of it a mining water. When it's gone, it's gone. After that...Can you say Dust Bowl?
The Ogallala Aquifer occupies the High Plains of the United States, extending northward from western Texas to South Dakota. The Ogallala is the leading geologic formation in what is known as the High Plains Aquifer System. The entire system underlies about 450,000 square kilometers (174,000 square miles) of eight states. Although there are several other minor geologic formations in the High Plains Aquifer System, such as the Tertiary Brule and Arikaree and the Dakota formations of the Cretaceous, these several units are often referred to as the Ogallala Aquifer.
Use of this aquifer for irrigation is rooted in Dust Bowl era politics. Since major irrigation started after World War II, 6 percent of the aquifer has dropped below what is considered usable. Current irrigation rates use up another 5 percent to 7 percent every 25 years, he said. Decades later, we apparently have learned nothing: The withdrawal of Ogalla's groundwater by connected agribusiness greatly exceeds the aquifer's rate of natural recharge. Some places overlying the aquifer have already exhausted their underground supply.
The Ogallala Aquifer occupies the High Plains of the United States, extending northward from western Texas to South Dakota. The Ogallala is the leading geologic formation in what is known as the High Plains Aquifer System. The entire system underlies about 450,000 square kilometers (174,000 square miles) of eight states. Although there are several other minor geologic formations in the High Plains Aquifer System, such as the Tertiary Brule and Arikaree and the Dakota formations of the Cretaceous, these several units are often referred to as the Ogallala Aquifer.
Use of this aquifer for irrigation is rooted in Dust Bowl era politics. Since major irrigation started after World War II, 6 percent of the aquifer has dropped below what is considered usable. Current irrigation rates use up another 5 percent to 7 percent every 25 years, he said. Decades later, we apparently have learned nothing: The withdrawal of Ogalla's groundwater by connected agribusiness greatly exceeds the aquifer's rate of natural recharge. Some places overlying the aquifer have already exhausted their underground supply.
Irrigation systems deplete the Ogallala aquifer faster than it's replenished.
Now, the rapid increase in ethanol plants under construction or planned for eight key farm states is threatening to pull billions more of gallons of water each year.New corn ethanol plants currently under construction or planned will increase the region's ethanol production capacity by 900 percent, the report finds. The area currently hosts only five ethanol plants with combined production of 71.5 million gallons per year, but another nine plants, with 639 million gallons per year capacity, are currently under construction. Each gallon of ethanol takes four gallons of water to produce., so the authors calculate that the nine plants under construction would increase groundwater withdrawals from some of the most depleted parts of the Ogallala region by an estimated 2.6 billion gallons per year.
OGALLA FACTS:
The Ogallala Aquifer stretches from the Texas Panhandle northward to South Dakota. It is the largest single water-bearing unit in North America covering 174,000 square miles. It is essentially a gigantic sponge holding enough water to fill Lake Huron. The aquifer ranges in thickness from less than a foot to 1,300 feet and averages about 200 feet in most areas. Conservative estimates suggest it will be depleted by the year 2020.