ogallala

For a recent chemistry project we were told to read an article about a current event,

then give a brief summary of it, and our opinions on it.

Bet you're excited now huh?

Okay fine, I won't make you beg:

The article I read:

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/02/07/texas-water-district-acts-to-slow-depletion-of-the-ogallala-aquifer/

--& now what you've all been waiting for: MY opinion--

(and it is overflowing with grammar, spelling, and general writing errors- but lets just say I didn't remember that I need to write this until 3hrs before the class it was due in. When you look at it from that perspective, It's amazing that the thing even makes sense at all.)

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The depletion of the Ogallala aquifer out on the high plains of Texas is a well recognized issue. We have been pumping water from it at a much faster speed that the aquifer could ever hope to replenish itself in accordance to. So the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District has set a pumping cap of 1.75 acre-feet per acre per year in an attempt to slow/combat the depletion of this source. They hope to ensure that in 50 years, 50% of the Ogallala groundwater remains.

            Outside of the textbook (but also in relation to what we’ve been learning) I can relate to the Ogallala crisis first hand. My family has a farm out in the heart of the high plains (city of Muleshoe to be exact, and in the Baily/Lamb counties) where my grandparents have lived and farmed for the past 80+ years. I was therefore quite familiar with the issues and points brought up in this article. For instance, as is mentioned in the story, my grandparent’s farm did have a windmill that pumped their water when they first settled there, and I can remember my grandpa using flood irrigation to water our cotton when I was younger. Just last year we replaced our previous method with large crop sprinklers.  My dad has told me of how drastically the water pressure has changed from how he remembered it as a kid. We’ve even had one of our wells go dry in the past year.

            It is very alarming, but there are many different things to be blamed. This article mentions how the use of flood irrigation wasted so much water, but that is a very weak explanation.

            One of the main issues is that some farmers are insisting on growing crops that are not indigenous to the natural environment of the area. But at even greater fault than the farmers are the dairies and feedlots. These two forces are buying up and taking over massive amounts of land. They will sometimes buy  five farms in an area and leave four of the five dry and untouched (which is needless to say, horrible for the soil,) and then on the fifth farm plant a crop like alfalfa which requires more water than almost any other crop, to use as feed for their cows. To do this they connect the wells from each of the farms and pump insane amounts of water into the concentrated area where they’re  growing their feed. Thus, eventually several of the unused farms are sucked dry.

            It is sickening to have to fret over whether or not we will be able to pump enough water to keep our small cotton harvests alive, when the dairies are gluttonously draining the country.

            I also find it ironic the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District is based in Lubbock. Lubbock is the nearest ‘large’ town to most areas of the high plains. However it does not truly sit upon the Ogallala , rather it kind of lies close to the bounds and of it, or at the most on top of an edge that is not actually full of fresh water. Anyway, Lubbock being a large city requires a lot of water- and where do they get a good portion of that water? You guessed it, the Ogallala. The fact that is isn’t traditionally within their boundaries or moral rights to use means nothing. So they found a piece of land on the edge of Muleshoe and on the tip of the aquifer to buy. They only needed this one edge because that was more than enough to tap into our portion of the Ogallala in Baily County.

            They built an underground tunnel, around 60 miles long and large enough to stand in, to pipe our water into the city.

So it’s just ironic the this High Plains Water Company has gone to all this trouble to point fingers at farmers, regulate them, chastise them, and talk of the massive damage- all the while telling us it’s our fault and its up to us ‘irrigators’ to fix this problem and stop all the harm we’re doing. They’ve got to limit us ‘crazy farmers.’ Teach us what to do to save the Ogallala from our destruction.

            Sweet, sweet irony.

            According to the Lubbock water resources site, residents of Lubbock consume approximately 37.5 million gallons of water per day, or about 13 billion per year. 3.25 billion gallons of that comes from (surprise, surprise)  the Baily County Well Field near Muleshoe. Which is exactly where our farm, and all our neighbors get our water from.  The remaining 9.75 billion gallons come from Lake Meredith just outside of Amarillo.

So tell me again, dear HPUWCD of Lubbock how the simple farmers are the ones to blame for this disaster because they hadn’t been using the correct crop sprinklers? That’s one pill I refuse to swallow.

In an article from the Lubbock Avalanche Journal the following is quoted from Ches Carthel, (Chief water engineer for the City of Lubbock.)

“The water we get from Lake Meredith is what’s called a renewable resource, so it’s a much more reliable supply of water.”

“The water in Bailey county, while it is a higher quality, is a limited supply.”

“When we use it, it’s gone.”

            At least he makes one point I won’t squabble over. He’s right, our water is of fantastic quality. You don’t know what water truly is and was meant to be until you’ve had a glass pumped straight from a cold, clear, underground lake.

            Don’t tell the citizens of Lubbock that though. By the time the city has processed the water for them, it tastes no different from our tap here in the Big D.