by 
Estimates drawn from 25 years of tracking water-level, water-use
The aquifer, the state’s most economically important groundwater resource, published a report summarizing regional conditions and options for prolonging life of the aquifer. The review documented benefits of voluntary water conservation in the state’s five groundwater management districts.
“Our results show that the only way to slow water-level declines is to reduce pumping in conjunction with modification of agricultural practices,” said Jim Butler, KGS senior scientist and one of the report’s co-authors. “As has been shown in Kansas and elsewhere, efficient irrigation technology must be coupled with a binding agreement to reduce pumping if we are to make a difference.”
The High Plains Aquifer underlies portions of eight states from South Dakota to Texas. It includes the Ogallala Aquifer of western Kansas and the Great Bend Prairie and Equus Beds aquifers in the south-central part of the state.
Read more at Salina Post.
