Endangered Ogallala

Hello Everyone!

I'd like to talk today about a major environmental problem that almost nobody is talking about in the mainstream media. The Ogallala is not an endangered specie, but an endangered aquifer, or an endangered underground supply of water. And it basically supplies 30% of the groundwater used for irrigation, most of it in the Midwest breadbasket. And Ogallala water accounts for approximately 40% of the nation's grain fed beef-draw your own conclusions about that part.

More bad news? Maybe. Of course, water from this aquifer water isn't as non-renewable as oil. If it was depleted it would only take about 6,000 years to recharge. But considering that it's only been pumped on a large scale since WWII, our current use is not exactly sustainable.

Needless to say, that before the aquifer was tapped much of the current breadbasket was not as widely inhabited or all that productive agriculturally. Native Americans only went into that area seasonally in order to hunt and during the dry seasons went to the river valleys.

To take a broad view of things the drilling of both oil and Ogallala water in various parts of America has had some wide ranging effects such as decreasing global food prices, making the US the number #1 producer of corn, and drastically increasing the number of electoral votes owned by Texas.

And now a number of major decisions about it have to be made. Simply teaching farmers to conserve water is only part of the picture. Other issues may involve things such as agricultural policy at the national level. It could also mean that biofuels will be required to be grown on salt or brackish water rather than from dedicated corn crops. Nor is water depletion the only possible threat to the Ogallala. Like many underground water sources, the Ogallala may face some risks of contamination. Usually people wouldn't worry about that like they would worry about contaminating a lake, but maybe they should.

Furthermore, there may be technologies in the future that might try to recharge aquifers with recycled sewage or industrial water. But in the meantime it would be foolish to waste the huge free lunch that Ogallala has provided to America-and the world.


Say Goodnight Readers!