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<br />1-3-15
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<br />
<br />y to control such contaminatio ,
<br />'S Bloom. IS through land use pi
<br />nl ,~. 'Tha(s hl5toTlcall~' a job for 5 te
<br />go l"rnment.~ she said. ~but the n cd
<br />her is for {ederal ruJes.~
<br />thou~h Ihen: is u.lk {rom tl e to
<br />rimt aboul legislation m prOle rhe
<br />v..art" that (omes up OUt wells, ac Ion is
<br />rarc~. n Iowa, rhe legislature is ,"sid.
<br />eno.': bill that would Impose 'es on
<br />liquid !On.j;:f: ranks, ,li:arba~e, house-
<br />hold h ardous o;l,'3Stt', and pe ticides.
<br />wlfh (h proceeds gOing 10 ne con.
<br />Sl(unio, of monHoring well. rht: de.
<br />sign of S lund dIsposal pt.e lCt'S. and
<br />research to \lo'~'S to reduc amounu
<br />of pesrici 'S and fertihzen applied to
<br />the land. lorida and Atl ,ana, both
<br />stares that IV!: to pIt-can us balance
<br />with a\'ailab SUppllC:S oE ea.n ,li:tound
<br />""-atec, have '1Itlen their own Je;;:.tsb-
<br />non.
<br />In COn,l:ff: . the de re, if if e\'er
<br />gets to th,1,[ st, 'e, prob Iy wiJl be be-
<br />tween a polic of no e,!tradarion of
<br />aquifers at all. a the N lC favors. and a
<br />classification s~. em, the EPA ur,!tes.
<br />Or Con,lo:rt:ss ma JUS try W avoid the
<br />luue. at leaSI un I a sis develops. A
<br />staffer on a con e lonal committee
<br />that concerns itse ith u"arer marters
<br />said nOt long a,l:0 at legislative and
<br />most other effort to do something
<br />abour the fouhn,ll: our ground water
<br />are movlOg. like I aquifers them-
<br />selves, "ver~', ver 51 wly."
<br />lbereMelms fla'sonthesub,ect
<br />on the books," e s d, "and lots of
<br />programs. Bur lOVer Icoordinarion.
<br />.so p-ound \lo-at r mart 5 tend to get
<br />shume-d aside. at inc des research,
<br />he added:"~ don't eve know at this
<br />pomt what w don't kno ."
<br />Onethin,ll: certain:'" nwedo,c;:et
<br />,Io:Oin8 on p. !Und water, e will be
<br />amazt.d at t complexlt)" Ihe prob-
<br />lem and the noner and tim ir lakes to
<br />salve it, Th moniwrin,ll: and ehabilira.
<br />tion dfort that are being dl ussed so
<br />hopefully 0..... are exrremel)' osdy. es-
<br />peciall)' c nSldenng the fact ar the)'
<br />are desl. ed to Insure the Sa! tr of a
<br />resource rhar much of the oal n hu-
<br />mmalh has thou.2hr of as free
<br />The l-ederal go\-ernmenr s arted
<br />movln on Pnce"s LtndiilltO 19~ ; but
<br />It .....as ut unlllJuneof thiS ~'ear th r the
<br />stare as .Ibuut read~' m aw.ud the on-
<br />tract .'or the deSIgn of the pbm for
<br />dea !OF the pbce up. The scheme \ h
<br />for i,lrnrln,o:cont.umn.lredwart'rou of
<br />Iht' JnJfill. trt'atlO,I.: II. and returfiln, If
<br />ro se..It a prolt'ctt.d COSt of S I I mI.
<br />
<br />.
<br />
<br />.
<br />
<br />\l.JLIHR....r:os f.Hl JC)~-
<br />
<br />nver Ihe next !Wenry years. In the
<br />meanu rlanuc City has had rodrill
<br />another set 0 . so ilS people can
<br />have WlIIter to drink. I the tax.
<br />payers S 3. 7 million.
<br />And in Manche5ler. Ne"'" Ham _
<br />shire, where a firm named \V est
<br />Corporation does pri lestlO,Il: for
<br />homeowners thers concerned
<br />about Igbr be 10 their dnnking
<br />w r. en,l::lOeer Bob Rosav reports that
<br />
<br />"\X'e see bad things rather freq .
<br />in samples sem In from u..' ear land-
<br />fills. WarerTest " en dOing quire
<br />well." he e; sales. whICh range
<br />f 0 to SIn a test. have doubled
<br />. ce Ihe be,ll:innin,l:: of thIS yeu. The
<br />gove t may be confident and op-
<br />timistic abOl.l future of ground
<br />W2,ler, but ordlOat)" p t.. ~eem a bit
<br />aml.lOUS.
<br />
<br />The Great American Aquifer
<br />BY CHARLES E. LITTLE
<br />
<br />Of all fht 1JJd}o,.aqlJ;ft,. Iyunm;n Ihr {Dltrm;nOIJJ Umftd SlaW /Ut map. P4f.tJ
<br />32-33J. I'ID'lt JO {01JJphft/y J01JJmdtrJ In ~glDI'I JJ '(It 1 II" Ogalla/J. uh,,-h liI'Idt,.!ttl a
<br />good pa,.1 DI,ht /.lIJu'tu and mou Dftht HIgh PLzII'IJ IIJW. It. 10fJ. I, bml1.potJlmtd 10
<br />Dl'ltJrgnt 0' ,znofhtr; IholJgh h"., 1m JOltnt of (Onla1JJll'lal'l/J 11 mO"t !tlu/) 10 bt 41.,.;(IJI-
<br />tlJ"J/ P,.J(I;Ul ,.,zlht,. IhaI'lIOX;{ U',zIU JlJmpJ. JJ m j......tU jt,.Jry fOnt JIl"t) 0/ grolJnd
<br />u'ott,. m ,.....tb,.,zJka./o,. tXamplt./olJnd Ihot 82 p,runl of {OnlJminal'ltJ ,'.Jm, from It,..
<br />Iiliu,./. Bllr Ihtr-t ,z,.t olh,,. probltml m Iht Ogollala. probltmJ of list. JMIt ({ Ihun ,.,m;.
<br />I'IIJU'1l 0/1& .nor' o/Ih, G",Jt Dtpr-tJJlon. 01111 al/tolJt Ollt JoIlltlon btll'l~ U,.,0IlJ/Y
<br />{(JI'IJidt,.td-llulj a 1'1 trho of ,h, JaYJ uhrn Iht ^tu D,oll 01 F,..mJ../11l D_ RooJt1f/1
<br />Jp",t III tI'Ir"g;tJ 1m an rf/o,.t tOlmp,.rn., Iht (Ond/IIM 0/ tht !.md .1I'IJ Iht prop/to
<br />
<br />At fint they thoughr it mi,l.:ht
<br />be a great under,lo::round nVer,
<br />Larer It was called a lake--and
<br />sometimes still is. the "Sixth" Great
<br />Li.ke, with as much waler as Huron or
<br />Ene. a quadrillion pllons. Only u un't
<br />a lake either. It is an aqUifer. or more
<br />exactly. a formarion of \lo".il.rt"r-saturated
<br />sand, gravel. clay, and caliche. the bot.
<br />tom of it a thousand feet deep tn some
<br />places. only twenty feet in orhers. This
<br />is lhe Opllala. named for an Indian
<br />tribe that once roamed the HIgh Plalns
<br />that lie above il.
<br />Nothing of rhe O,':"allala'~ vastness
<br />shou's on the surface. But If rou are far
<br />above the land. ""';1rchin~ Ihe mOVIe on
<br />a coast to coast asrline flight, It:t us sa~..
<br />take a second to hft the shade when
<br />you are over the flatlands of New Mex.
<br />ico, Colorado. or Kansas. or lhe Sand
<br />Hills of Nebuska. or lhe Panhandles
<br />of Texas Of Oklahoma. Then you will
<br />"see" the Ogallala-in giant green cir-
<br />cles. stretching 10 the horizon. the
<br />work of cenrer pivOt Irrigation ngs
<br />suckini<: up the w;uers at a thou~and
<br />~aJlons a minurt., The)" h.ll\'e converted
<br />millions of acrt's of former HI~h Plasm
<br />short,lo:rass pUllle Into lush, lou'-ro",,'
<br />a,l.:rlculture. pushln..,: the Corn Belt
<br />v..euward IOta Iht' heart of tht. Grt"ar
<br />^mellun [k~t'fl_
<br />COnSI~lIn.!' of a lun!: pIpe. over a
<br />
<br />thousand feet long. suppotled br
<br />wheeled A-frame rowers, tall as a
<br />hou~e. the center pivot sntem requIres
<br />no manual relocation_ You JUSt start
<br />[he pump mOlor-I}'pically an aUlomo-
<br />bile engine convened to use natural
<br />gas-and the center pIVOt. powered by
<br />the flow of the warer Itself. moves
<br />around in a slow cuele. lakln~ (li.--e1ve
<br />hours or more [Q do so. and Inundates,
<br />in one roaring sweep. a perfect circle
<br />within a quarrer-secrion of land-a
<br />quarter of one square mIlt-at a lime.
<br />The first center PIVOI wa\ palented by
<br />Frank Zyba(k in 1952. There are now
<br />150.000 deep Itrl,ll:ation wells rapplOg
<br />the Ogallala, most of them turningcen-
<br />ter PIVOl rIgs.
<br />Climate-free agriculture thiS is
<br />called. But it was nOI al'llo.'aYs so. On
<br />April 14. 193~. a young plains drifter
<br />and political acri\'lsl irom Pampa.!Texas-a hard. dr)' Panhandle town
<br />even to Ihe beSt of urnes. ""'hich rhese
<br />",,'eten't-watched a (Owenng black air.
<br />borne lidal.....ave ~'Ilo..eep down from [he
<br />nonh. It consisted of Ihuuunds upon
<br />thousands of tons of dusl from farms as
<br />far a\loOl)' as the Dakota~. .1) near as rhe
<br />nt'Xl COUnt).. \Xben [ht, cloud enve.
<br />lopt'd the hnle town. \'Isibilirr Wt'nt
<br />irom bllOklO,I:: bfl~ht to ll'ro. And that
<br />dai, all acro~\ tht' Panhandle. ammals
<br />dlt'd of asphn:lauon. .n dlJ babIes and
<br />
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