irrigation

After decades of irrigation, the aquifer that makes life possible in dry western Kansas is reaching a critical point. Several counties have already lost more than half of their underground water. But a new plan could save more of what’s left.

The Upper Colorado River Commission – comprised of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico – is set to announce details of an extended “System Conservation Pilot Program” through which water users could be paid to cut back on their use.

For the first time, the state board voted Wednesday to say that Kansas shouldn’t pump the Ogallala aquifer dry to support crop irrigation. The underground water source has seen dramatic declines in recent decades.

The Department of the Interior designated $4 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act for drought mitigation in the Colorado River basin.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced plans to spend money from the Inflation Reduction Act on water conservation measures in the Colorado River basin. Sources told KUNC that could include buying water from farmers and ranchers to help boost levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

The water in the Ogallala aquifer is worth billions of dollars to western Kansas, but it’s rapidly disappearing. And it's been a challenge to find ways to slow the depletion.

Irrigation practices are changing, partly because of economics and partly because of a cultural shift among farmers on the High Plains.

To conclude our three-part series on how gardeners new to our region can overcome reduced water access, today's installment of Growing on the High Plains…

Welcome to High Plains Radio Readers Book club, an on-air, on-line community of readers exploring themes of Water and Replenishment in our Book Club…

Technology made it possible to develop the Ogallala aquifer and turn the High Plains region into the nation’s breadbasket. William Ashworth describes this…