Dry wells are a common problem in drought-stricken California, but the state has reservoirs, rivers and snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada. The big question is how to make the most efficient use of that water. In the vast swath of land between the Rocky Mountains and the 100th Meridian, for instance, the major source of water is the Ogallala aquifer – and it is being drained faster than it recharges, reports McClatchy. The aquifer waters 20 percent of the corn, wheat, sorghum and cattle produced in the nation.
“As they look for survival, farmers are using cutting-edge technologies to make the most efficient use of the water they have left. They’re contemplating something almost unimaginable just a generation ago: voluntary pacts with their neighbors to reduce irrigation,” says McClatchy. So far, one voluntary water-use agreement has been created, in parts of two counties northwestern Kansas, with the goal of reducing water use by 20 percent in five years.
Without irrigation water, crop yields would plummet. Growers say the ripple effect of lower income from smaller harvests would drive out some operators and sap the economic life of rural communities.