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Will the Mighty Ogallala Aquifer Be Mighty
in the Future?

Did you know that that the Ogallala aquifer spans underneath eight states? Did you know that about one-fifth of all U.S. cattle, corn, cotton and wheat depend on the Ogallala?

To date, about 30 percent of the aquifer's water has been pumped out of the ground, according to a recent article from Bloomberg News Agency’s Alan Bjerga. With an additional 39 percent expected to be pumped out in the next 50 years, this could lead to a water crisis that has many ramifications. It will be hard for farmers to take out bank loans, land values will drop, farmers will look to plant different crops, incomes will drop for affiliated industry such as seed and machinery dealers. Other businesses like train and elevators will also feel the economy squeeze them as crop supplies decrease.

In his article, Bjerga points out that there is little coordinated proactive measures being worked on in the Great Plains. There are some voluntary measures in place in Kansas such as water districts who are reducing water use by 20 percent. Texas will see new projects that boost water storage capacity thanks to voters that committed $2 billion to such projects in 2013. The article has a quote from Sasha Richey , a Washington State Hydrologist that says that multi-state response is crucial in order to increase the sustainability of the system and come up with water-saving technology and local strategies to achieve join end goals.

Many of the schools, hospitals, and other entities are based on taxes that are based on irrigated land. If people want to continue those amenities, steps need to be taken now or the Ogallala aquifer will see the drastic depletion with parts completely depleted by 2045 and remember on-fifty of corn, cotton and wheat relies on irrigated from the aquifer, according the Bjerga findings.

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