Use of the Ogallala began at the turn of the century, and

since World War II reliance on it has steadily increased. The

withdrawal of this groundwater has now greatly surpassed the

aquifer’s rate of natural recharge. Some places overlying the

aquifer have already exhausted their underground supply as a

source of irrigation. Other parts have more favorable saturated

thickness and recharge rates, and so are less valuable.

Many people assume that large groundwater formations

may temporarily run low, but will fill again when rainfall is

plentiful – as do lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. However, unless the

areas impacted are unaffected by the factors that contribute to

high evaporation – such as minimal rainfall, abundant sunshine,

low humidity, and periodic strong winds – this assumption is not

even remotely correct. Therefore, it is imperative that we find

solutions through research to water problems and maintain the

aquifer as a continuing resource.

By the time we know whether today’s conventional High

Plains farmers can live with less groundwater, it may be too late

to save enough to keep them on the land. Pumping the Ogallala is

still a one-time experiment, unrepeatable and irreversible.

Nationwide, irrigation has always been treated as a farmer

panacea almost beyond credibility. Not until the late 1940's did the

combination of efficient deep-well pumps, low-cost energy to run

gasoline or natural-gas engines, inexpensive aluminum piping,

center-pivot sprinklers and other watering technologies, new

management skills, an increased scale of operation, and, not least,

the existence of vast water-filled gravel beds from the Ogallala

Aquifer, allow farmers to ignore the lack of rain.

Irrigation on the High Plains was not merely a response to

climate, but its replacement. While in the beginning the farmer

tapped groundwater only as a last resort when rains failed, and

often applied the water when it was too late, by the 1960's

irrigation was integrated into the farming routine as the single

most important activity to guarantee big yields.

Most consumers of the High Plains groundwater treat it as a "free good," available

to the first-taker at no cost for the water itself. Hence this free

water has been generously consumed on profligate levels, and

there are forces at work that encourage excessive use.

Industrial agriculture with its reliance on chemicals and its

failure to adequately address soil erosion problems is guilty of

depleting water resources. Ignorance and carelessness are in fact

the main factors behind the increasing water quality deterioration.

Nitrates in fertilizer, used on farms and also on home lawns

and gardens, can seep into groundwater, and this can be very

harmful to pregnant women and children.13 Pesticides too are

harmful in many cases. They can pollute ground water in

agricultural areas exceeding the water quality standards. And

according to the EPA there is no known way to remove pesticide

residues from ground water. Groundwater may also be polluted by

outflows from polluted rivers and streams or saline estuaries,

Potential sources of groundwater contamination include

landfills, abandoned waste sites, oil and gas brine pits, and the

chemicals applied to most of the acres typically planted to crops

each year.

An example of the aquifer’s water depletion in the

Oklahoma Panhandle area is in Texas County. Texas County

consumes almost all of its water from the Ogallala Aquifer flowing

some 200 feet beneath the Panhandle. In 1990, approximately 363

million gallons per day of groundwater were pumped from the

High Plains Aquifer. Throughout the High Plains, the water table

dropped 9.9 feet from predevelopment times to 1980, and then

dropped another 3.05 feet from 1980 through 1995.

Irrigation methods became increasingly efficient with fully automatic centerpivot

drop sprinklers. But as efficiency rose, crop acreage rose as

well. While there were approximately 54,400 acres in irrigated

corn in 1991, there were approximately 90,000 acres in irrigated

corn in 1998.