A Midwestern state could change how it asks farmers to irrigate crops to avoid depleting one of the world’s largest underground aquifers.
Earl Lewis, chief engineer with the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources, says the proposed change would require Kansas farmers to cut water use from the Ogalla Aquifer. “The data shows us that in order to stabilize the aquifer or halt the decline, some areas we may need a 15 percent cut and in other areas we might need a 50 percent cut.”
The Kansas Water Authority voted recently to place language in the body’s annual report to the governor and legislature saying the “policy of planned depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer is no longer in the best interest of the state of Kansas.” Some studies indicate that parts of western Kansas have an estimated 10 years of water left.
