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<br />1-J.l6
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<br />Tht ulrimdlt ,"igalion r;g--.l unttr.pilYJ/ optrarirJn at u'ork in Mnsaj. "","~,..n
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<br />.mall children .....hme moudH and In the Hi,ith Plains rapped (he ri,ht:~ of
<br />noses became cloAAeJ with the dusr- the OjZ.1Ilala and went trom Just)' disa.s.
<br />wmeboJy's topsoil. tel to a.slOnishing wN!rh.
<br />So Woody Guthrie wrOle his son~. And now It IS on ItS \I:a\, back to
<br />~Dus[y Old Dust,R later rCUlled. -So dlsasler a~n. or at least so some be-
<br />l..on~ It's Been Good (0 Know You,- Iieve. In recent years, the O,Rall.lla's
<br />and like lens of rhous.a.nds of Others, W.Hen have been pumped QUI so fast
<br />picked up and left [he land !tlJI had that !tOme Lumen han' had to red rill
<br />feckleHly been plowed and plowed [heir wells every year. Many of Ihem
<br />and plowed to death. In a desper,uc JUSI p;o broke. In a sizeable Mea, the
<br />attempt 10 hep up with falling com- Ogallala's ~overJraft~ has reached 9~
<br />modity prices dunn~ the 1920s and percent, ~'hich isrosay forevery "'-:,11100
<br />'305, farmt:"rs had pushed farther and of w;uer pumped out, on]~' a teacupful
<br />farther wesfward InIO the hOf puuie, is restored by the natuul pr()("esses of
<br />plowing under the thin co\'er of nAtive ,1qulfer rechJr,ll:e,
<br />grasses on the fr~ile lands. ~R.aln (01-
<br />lows the plow,~ they said, Only It
<br />didn'f, and the bnd turned to dust, I
<br />was four years old when this hJppened.
<br />\X'ood~' was 23. MaS! Americans
<br />weren't even born. It IS, next W the
<br />Civil \X'ar. perhaps the Single most \'lviJ
<br />Amencan historical e\'cnt. The Dust
<br />Bowl, Bur oddly. (e~' Americans know
<br />~-hat happened next.
<br />\\'hAt happened next was [he Jeep-
<br />well mrblOe pump, the center PI\'Of Ir.
<br />erl/UtiOn sysu~m. and the ener~' lO run
<br />them that "..as supplied counes\' at the
<br />Rural Electtlflc,itlon AdminlStrJtlon
<br />And the new nJ!ura] ,..-:as plpdlOes. In
<br />the shon span of litty yens, thdnks TO
<br />thIS remdrbbk technolol"~', JFtlCu]ture:-
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<br />~~
<br />
<br />But let us begin d[ [he:- beginning.
<br />AccordlO/l. to Colorado geol.
<br />opS! Morton Blnin~er, the be.
<br />pnnlO,ll: ......as a billion years ago, whe:-n
<br />the American [olb]e l.md began to Iolke
<br />shape, under the sea. \X'hen rhe oceans
<br />flOa.l]y ~'ilhdrew, Ihe flat layers of sedi.
<br />menr slowly hardened lOW bedrock.
<br />Then, some 70 10 90 million )'ears .1,11:0,
<br />(he Rockies be~an to nst' from a (tench
<br />left behind b)' the oceans. As the
<br />mountalOS fl,rew. the rams coursed
<br />down theIr slopes to the e.l-St, creaung
<br />.....hat Russell MlKeecalls ~fl\'er-c1awed
<br />baJ\J.nds sloptn,o: for hundreds of miles
<br />to [he ~tISSISSlppl.~ But Ihen [he r.a.Lns
<br />decreolSe:-d In force .ol.nd trequenn. and
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<br />II
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<br />..
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<br />....?~~
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<br />\
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<br />the channels, no lon,o:er scoured dean
<br />by re,lNlolrly runOlng rivers. began [0
<br />fill up ~'ith stones. sand. and slits.
<br />Then, when Ihe seasonal lOrrencs d,d
<br />come. [he blocked nverbeds forced
<br />the ~'a[er out of the old channels olnd
<br />crea(ed a complex o( overbppln,c del.
<br />t.l.S. In time, the m.lOtle of satur.Hed
<br />debm, hundreds of feel deep. ~rre.Jd
<br />over rhe old bedrock base to make
<br />what is now called the Ogallala (orma-
<br />tion.
<br />The whole proces$-to build the
<br />mantle o( waler-saturated .':eolollical
<br />dl:bm Ihat is the Ogallala, and ehl:n 10
<br />overlay it with hundreds of feet more
<br />of soil trom ~rhe perishing nven.~ as
<br />hlslOtlan \X'.llrer PreSCOtI Webb pur It-
<br />look olbout ten million years to com.
<br />plere. No...... It would seem thai In pans
<br />of [he HI~h PlainS [he Ogallala's waters
<br />molY be all used up In less Ihan one
<br />hundred.
<br />.'\ccordin,lt to a 1982 government re-
<br />pon, li\'e million acres of Irn,c:ated land
<br />wdl. by Ihe ~'ear 2020, be Ifflfl,aet'.j no
<br />more. Tlus obtainS bec.luse the aquifer
<br />cannol be recharged from Irs .ol.nClenl
<br />source, [he east.,lo""In,c: runoff from
<br />[he Rock)' Mount.a.Lns, for Ihe modern
<br />HI,.!:h P].llns are no...... geolo,.!:lcallv St'pd-
<br />rate from the IU,I;:er malnx of tht- Gre.lt
<br />P].lln~, ",-hlch run from Ihe IUOth ,\Ie-
<br />
<br />\,\'llDERSESS F."ll I'JI'.
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