The title of this post might indicate that it's about consuming fewer empty calories. It isn't. It's another rant about water.
Each summer we drive across western Kansas on our way to Dennis’s favorite fly-fishing spot in the Rocky Mountains. Along I-70 Highway we see grain elevators and church spires marking tiny towns. Except for the city of Hayes, population 21,038, much of the landscape consists of dry cropland where center-pivot irrigation rigs make rainbows in the dry western air.
Each summer we drive across western Kansas on our way to Dennis’s favorite fly-fishing spot in the Rocky Mountains. Along I-70 Highway we see grain elevators and church spires marking tiny towns. Except for the city of Hayes, population 21,038, much of the landscape consists of dry cropland where center-pivot irrigation rigs make rainbows in the dry western air.
Photo credit U. S. Geological Survey
If not for the Ogallala Aquifer [1] one of the world’s
largest natural water reservoirs, farming in this semi-arid area would be
somewhere between difficult and impossible The Ogallala is a ”fossil
aquifer,” [2] which underlies a deep layer of rock. It stretches from Nebraska to
Texas. Water in the aquifer is ancient, much of it accumulated during the time
when mastodons roamed these parts.
Our government's misguided push for farmers to produce more corn to make ethanol has
encouraged western Kansas farmers to plant corn, the thirstiest of crops. Deep
wells that tap the Ogallala Aquifer and powerful pumps enable them to cash in on the ethanol craze. If you have flown over the area, you may have
observed the crop circles this irrigation creates.
But here’s the rub: the Ogallala Aquifer is being depleted
and cannot be replaced in the foreseeable future. In several parts of
Kansas, depletion is more than sixty percent.
From Nebraska to Texas, the Ogallala Aquifer provides fresh water for twenty percent
of the wheat, corn, cattle, and cotton produced in the United States. Moreover, 82 percent of the people in the area rely on the aquifer for their water. Obviously
conservation is called for, but recently five western Kansas counties rejected
a plan to conserve the Aquifer. [4] The plan would have reduced their usage of the
aquifer by twenty percent. [5]
Climate change predictions say that Kansas eventually will
become a desert. In the meantime, western Kansa farmers are rapidly using up
the only pristine water in the state. It seems important to remember that 82
percent of communities will have no water. Furthermore, let us remember that Kansas produces twenty percent of the wheat grown in the United States. How will failure of the Ogallala affect the price of the bead on our tables? We'd better tighten our belts.
‘Nuff said. I promise not to rant about water for at least
another month.
[1] The Ogallala Aquifer
[2] What is a fossil aquifer?
[3] Ogallala running out.
[5] Kansas counties reject water conservation plan.
Copyright 2014 Shirley Domer
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