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<br />1317
<br />
<br />fidian West to ,he RockIes. Indeed. the
<br />O}l:a.Ila.1a's only source of recharge is the
<br />.I<xa.! ram. and m a mmor deRree the
<br />;usocl,ued rain-swollen rivers-the
<br />Plaere. the Arkansas. the CanadIan-
<br />whIch art' few In the HI.-:-h Plams of
<br />modern ,ll:f'oJogiu.l urnes. Somer/mes.
<br />d1t'se rJ\'ers tend to /(JUt,. [he water (a.
<br />ble. ior ,helf ch.annels CUI below It, and
<br />when the rains SfOp. (he O}l:,uJaJa feeds
<br />(he flVers. r;uher than the reverse.
<br />In [he nonhero pan of the High
<br />Pla.ms. in Nebraska. a,ll:ood r.i.ln can go
<br />a {au w.ar fO rech.uglO,lol: the aquifer, for
<br />[he Dverlyin,ll: soil is sandy and porous,
<br />Jetting the ramwarer through to (he for-
<br />mation bene.uh. BUI In OIht'r areas, es-
<br />pecia.lJy in Teus. [here is a la)'t't of
<br />McapnxkR berlll'een [he surface strata
<br />and the Ogallala formation below.
<br />\Vhen a Texas farmer pumps water
<br />from a deep well, the deficit IS perma-
<br />nent, In Colorado and Kanus the
<br />problem is almost as bad, with Vr'arer
<br />tables dropping rourinely tWO or rhree
<br />feet a )'eu. wmetimes as much as ren in
<br />some places in adry season. The rule of
<br />rhumb is this: for every acre of land
<br />irriR3ted !O an olAAtegare depth of 12
<br />inches in a yeu, the Vw'ater uble will
<br />.drop live!O so: feet,
<br />The rule of thumb has kept the High
<br />Plains In a srate of anxiety for dt'<:aJes.
<br />
<br />In some areas. the -saturated thick-
<br />neSi~ IS 300 feet or more, and m.lybe
<br />tive or six feet a year doesn't mean
<br />much. In others, where the thICkness IS
<br />100 feet or less, then you can expect!O
<br />be OUt of irngauon a,l;:riculrure pretty
<br />soon, macro-economic prOjections
<br />notwLthHandln,l;:. Already, In Texas,
<br />farmers are Sinking small wdls
<br />throughout their farms for the sole
<br />purpose at tunsferrm8 "',arer [0 a bIg
<br />center-pivot \l,'ell no longer able to op-
<br />erate a spnnkler on us own.
<br />To irngatJon farmers running out of
<br />",,".ner. the obvious solurion IS ro get
<br />some elsewhere, At first, hydrolo,li:iscs
<br />thought they might recharge the dry-
<br />Ing Ogallala by putting ""ater tnto the
<br />deep welb from seasonal playa lakes.
<br />The rrouble was, the silr from the pia.
<br />ras fouled rhe rurbines when the Vw'arer
<br />Vw'3S pumped our a,ll;~n. Moreover, en-
<br />vironmentalists ra.lsed [he issue of pol-
<br />lurion. The pure, milJion-year--old
<br />\Vater trom [he aquifer would then be
<br />laced with last season's persistent
<br />pesticides.
<br />'lXbat really nprured the imagina_
<br />tion of High Pla.lns irngJ.tors were rhe
<br />""'arer transfer schemes, rhe most ,lS-
<br />tonishing of ",'hich (though taken quite
<br />seriously ar [he time) was the so-c-alled
<br />Nonn Arnerinn Water and Power AI_
<br />
<br />ll.1nce. ....AWAPA would tap IOta the
<br />Yukon and other far-north freshv..'ater
<br />supplies-mostl). from Canad<l-and
<br />send the ....aters southward, with a SIp:-
<br />nlficant percenr.J.,.:e p:oing to the High
<br />PlainS <lnd thence down IntO ~fexlco.
<br />In all, :'ooiA\l'APA ...-ater should exceed
<br />the flow of the ~flsSlSslppi. The pnce
<br />rag would be up",ards of S 100 billion.
<br />Wrote Texas Congressman Jim \\'rl8hr
<br />at rhe time ( 1966; he is now Speaker of
<br />the House). ~:'ooiAU'APA has an almost
<br />"mirJ~u potential If we possess the
<br />cour~e and tor~sl8ht to jo":rasp it_~
<br />Luckily, we didn't, and after that,
<br />more limited pbns were advanced But
<br />these days. even the most modest
<br />"interbasin- water-transfer proposals
<br />(the most recent enVISions pumping
<br />water from Arkansas, Missoutl, and
<br />South Dakota into (he High PI,llns)
<br />are thought to be wuhoue a chance
<br />of implementation. And so, rod a}'.
<br />farmers are be~nning ro thlOk J.bout
<br />whar they should have been thinking
<br />about all a1ong-\VaYs to conset\le the
<br />"''ater the}" have le{r. For one thing.
<br />(hey can, in effeer, rurn the sptlnklers
<br />on rhe center plVOrs upside down with
<br />~drops; thus reducinl!: the amount of
<br />wa.rer lost ro evaporation. Man~' are in-
<br />stalling sophistica.ted -drip-irn.':3tlon"
<br />systems thJor reqwre only a tiny fraction
<br />
<br />
<br />-Ol/Jt) Ol.i 01/1'" rut! from tht p1411l! of tJJtffT/ ColorJJo m 1935, "'Al'H(JronOAVIIH'AUtO" U6I.AIYOfC(>N(,.lllt
<br />
<br />\l:'llDERSESS FAll 198~
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