Ogallala Aquifer

In many regions, groundwater aquifers accumulated over millennia are being depleted within decades.

The Ogallala aquifer beneath the American Great Plains, which took thousands of years to fill, has lost roughly one-third of its volume since large-scale irrigation began in the 1950s.

Rivers that once flowed reliably year-round now dry to mere trickles during certain seasons.

Lakes shrink visibly from year to year, leaving behind rings of exposed earth that bear witness to vanishing reserves.

And I'm really not going to save water.

Because that was part of that deal was trying to save the Ogallala.

And I said, in theory, that's great.

People are still going to pump whatever they can.

Yes.

Two issues that come up a lot here, one being water rights, dealing with the Ogallala Aquifer.

I irrigate.

Yeah.

You'd think something as devastating as the Dust Bowl would change how we take care of the land for future generations.

But on that same land today, intensive agriculture is draining the Ogallala Aquifer way faster than it can ever refill.

We still haven't learned that we can't keep taking more from the land than it can give back.

Aaron, what about you? What are your favorite episodes?

A species driven to extinction does not return when we regret it.

The Ogallala aquifer took thousands of years to fill and is being pumped far faster than it recharges, and a government that abolishes free elections and independent courts may never permit them again.

So the capacity to correct course comes with a companion rule, be slow to make choices that cannot be reversed, and slower still to destroy the things that let us notice when we are wrong.

So what is the primary action we should take? It is this, we must defend the channels through which bad news reaches power, and we must defend them most firmly when the bad news is about our own side.

And they love our water.

We sit on the Ogallala Aquifer, the largest body of fresh water in the world.

It's 300 million years old.

But the problem is there's parts of the Ogallala Aquifer that it's getting depleted six times faster than it gets replenished.

And we got to protect that water source at all costs.

So it is about putting guardrails, identifying no-go zones for data centers.

The part of the state that produces beef, milk, and grain for our region is running out of water, but plans to save the aquifer are under attack for doing either too much or too little.

Western Kansans know the time to conserve what's left of the Ogallala Aquifer is now.

Coming up with ideas on how to do that is simple, but figuring out ways that satisfy the farmers, the conservation districts, and the state is difficult.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association rescheduled two flag football games today.