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ANNE THOMPSON: In the state of Kansas, agriculture is king.
Along with high yields of corn and soybeans, Kansas is the top
wheat-producing state in the U.S., with yields of more than
382 million bushels in 2012, according to the USDA. The
secret to this land's bounty is not just the soil that covers
it, but also something below ground that no one can see - the
Ogallala aquifer, the largest freshwater aquifer
in North America.
DAVE HYNDMAN: For decades you've had incredible production
of agricultural crops on top of this and largely that's because
of the incredible water resources that have been
available to it.
THOMPSON: The Ogallala Aquifer, also known as the High Plains
Aquifer, is a groundwater storage reservoir that stretches
174,000 square miles underneath parts of 8 states from South
Dakota to Texas.
STAN TOWNSEND: This well here is 303 foot deep.
THOMPSON: Stan Townsend, a sixth-generation farmer from
Weskan, Kansas, grows corn, wheat, pinto beans and peas on
his land. Like many farmers, Townsend depends on the aquifer
to irrigate his crops, especially during times
of extreme drought.
TOWNSEND: This country is about weather, and right now,
it's sure not in our favor.
THOMPSON: Today's irrigation technology is able to pump out
water that has been in the aquifer for hundreds of
thousands of years in just a matter of minutes, a rate which
far outpaces how fast nature can replenish it, threatening the
overall sustainability of the aquifer and agriculture.
TOWNSEND: This well over on southwest was right at a
2,000 gallon a minute well and now all we're gettin' out
of it is about 600.
THOMPSON: According to the Kansas Geological Survey,
groundwater levels in the aquifer have dropped an average
of 14 feet since 1996 - about a foot each year. Aquifer
drop-rates suddenly doubled, an average of two feet a year,
between the start of 2011 and the end of 2012 alone.
HYNDMAN: Since about 2011 there's been a significant
drought and this is really across most of the high plains
aquifer but this area, as well as others, you're now in a
period of extreme to exceptional drought.
THOMPSON: Dave Hyndman, a hydrologist at Michigan State
University, is leading a team of scientists funded by the
National Science Foundation that is studying the aquifer. The
team is analyzing data from as far back as the 1800's on
changes in climate, irrigation technology and water policy to
build models that could forecast what the future holds for the
aquifer and for farming.
HYNDMAN: When we feed the climate into these models, we're
able to predict what happens with the water levels and as
long as we have pumping data, we really get a great understanding
of the system.
THOMPSON: One of the reasons why the aquifer replenishes or
recharges so slowly is due to the water cycle itself. When
precipitation in the form of rain or snow hits the ground,
some of it runs off. Some evaporates back into the air
from the ground or as transpiration from plants.
What doesn't run off or evaporate slowly seeps down
through the soil and its layers by gravity in a process called
percolation. In western Kansas, it can take one year to recharge
the aquifer by less than an inch.
JIM BUTLER: There's not enough recharge out here.
Not enough precipitation.
THOMPSON: During the drought of 2012, Mitchell Baalman, a
fourth-generation farmer outside of Hoxie, Kansas, was able to
maintain his crop yields only by pumping more water out
of the aquifer.
MITCHELL BAALAM: In 2012, we were drastically impacted. I
mean, it affected our crops, definitely affected the aquifer.
We depend heavily on the Ogallala, which is what we're
pumping out for our pivot irrigation.
THOMPSON: Now in an effort to extend the life of the aquifer,
Baalman and other farmers have started a grassroots effort to
cut back pumping by 20 percent over the next five years.
BAALAM: I think we're averaging probably 2.1 foot a year is what
we're droppin'. That's why we're lookin' ahead to the future to
try to promote saving, being proactive instead of reactive.
THOMPSON: But sustaining the Ogallala aquifer and Kansas
agriculture must also include more scientific research.
Hyndman's team is working with local and state government
officials, water policy experts and farmers to develop a
long-term model for aquifer water use - based on more
precise measurements of precipitation, percolation
and natural recharge, better monitoring of
agricultural pumping, and forecasts of changes in
climate and population.
HYNDMAN: To do anything about sort of forecasting what happens
in the future, we have to work with both the farmers and the
policy-makers, because as we do these scenarios of the future,
we have to have a pretty good idea that the scenarios we're
running are feasible.
TOWNSEND: We've gotta start someplace. We gotta get this
thing moving. It's too important.
THOMPSON: Improving water policy and reducing water usage
are not only key to sustaining the Ogallala Aquifer, but also
to maintaining a way of life in western Kansas and across the
entire High Plains region.
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