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Southwest Kansas Farmer's Efforts To Save Aquifer Inspire Daughter To Do The Same

US Fish and Wildlife Service

As a southwest Kansas farmer does his part to extend the life of the Ogallala Aquifer, his daughter is following suit - through an FFA project. 

As Kansas Agland reports, Dwane Roth of Holcomb changed his mind about the use of irrigation to water his corn crop a few years ago, after realizing that even though the top couple of inches of soil was dry, the water beneath it was sufficient to water his crop.

Now, he’s trying to convince others to change their mindsets about water use, in order to preserve the dwindling Ogallala Aquifer, which underlies eight states across the High Plains and provides water to about one-fifth of the wheat, corn, cotton and cattle production in the U.S.  It’s also a primary drinking water supply for residents throughout the High Plains.

This realization inspired Roth’s daughter, Grace, a freshmen at Holcomb High School, with an idea for her FFA Supervised Agricultural Experience project – water boot camp - which took place in Manhattan this summer, bringing together about a dozen other FFA students from across Kansas to learn about the state's water issues.