The Ogallala Aquifer serves farming communities in multiple states. When it runs dry, the agriculture industry in Texas and the nation is in jeopardy.
LUBBOCK — The Ogallala Aquifer is buried deep throughout the High Plains. The water flowing underneath is as good as gold for farmers in the region, serving as a lifeline in years when the drought and Texas heat wither crops.
It is a critical resource for the agricultural industry — not just in Texas, but in the other seven states that it lies beneath.
“At the end of the day, the Ogallala is propping us all up,” said Eric Simpson, the farm manager at At’l Do Farms on the outskirts of Lubbock. “No matter what, I’ll probably have to use water from it this summer because, without that, I don’t think we could grow much in West Texas unless it’s a cactus or a mesquite tree.”
Following several years of dry land and hardly any rainfall, farmers like Simpson in the High Plains are depending more on the aquifer. And that has consequences that are coming into focus.
On the heels of Texas’ worst drought in a decade, a report from the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District shows water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer, also known as the High Plains Aquifer, have dropped consistently in the region over the last five years. More than 1,300 wells were measured earlier this year, including ones from the smaller Edwards-Trinity Aquifer, all of which show varying degrees of decline. The biggest decrease was in Parmer County, which sits on the New Mexico border in between Lubbock and Amarillo, where there was a decline of 1.30 feet in the water levels.
This has caused concern for the future of agriculture in the High Plains. Scientists have found that climate change has pushed average temperatures higher in Texas, making heat waves and droughts worse. And with the warm temperatures continuing at night — and offering less relief — it’s harder to get the bountiful crops of cotton, grapes and corn the region is known for.
“Out here in West Texas, the one thing that they’re so dependent on to grow crops is water,” said Melanie Barnes, a senior research associate in geosciences for Texas Tech University. “That’s the one thing that really controls whether you can economically survive out here.”
With only a finite amount of water to be shared throughout the U.S. High Plains region — Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming and South Dakota — the Ogallala running dry could have devastating consequences nationwide. The aquifer provides water for about 30% of the nation’s irrigation systems, boosting up the farms and ranches that supply a quarter of the nation’s agricultural production. And for 82% of the people who live within the aquifer’s boundaries, it supplies their drinking water too.
With agriculture and domestic use, the aquifer is not naturally refilling from precipitation nearly as fast as the water is being taken out. According to the National Climate Assessment, the groundwater is being pumped for irrigation 10 times faster than it can be refilled from rain or snow.
Without rainfall in the Texas High Plains, the chances the aquifer can recharge are low.
“Some areas of the aquifer, you have a lot of water because of the Rocky Mountains, or you don’t have very much because you’re up on the banks of the river instead of the middle of it,” Barnes explained. “We do not get that recharge from runoff.” The region was hit with rainfall for weeks, particularly in the Panhandle, where the national weather service reported between 10-20 inches of rain, which has caused flooding. But that doesn’t mean the ground is suddenly moisturized and ready for a good growing season — extremely dry, cracked soil can’t retain water and instead causes runoff.
Because of the declining aquifer levels, the mindset in the plains has become more focused on conservation. The High Plains Underground Water Conservation District publishes information on groundwater availability regularly.