Tuesday, May 21, 2013

When the water's gone, it's gone

What is happening in the High Plains Aquifer can and will happen in the Ogallala Aquifer if farmers and people who care don't do something. The New York times had an article about this High Plains Aquifer and how it has gone from being able to pump 1,600 gallons a minute from it to barely 300 gallons and getting sand and grit in his pumps--ruining over $20,000 of equipment.

Gone are the hay days of 294 bushels of corn to the acre with such irrigation. Bridges in Kansas and Colorado border country span dry stream beds. Sixty years of pumping have pulled groundwater levels down by hundreds of feet.

Trying to raise crops where it takes 30+ inches of moisture a year in areas that only have 20 inches has started to end. It is in fact, the beginning of the end to industrial agriculture and the return to sustainable agriculture in the bread basket of America.

Respect ground water and surface water and return to sustainable organic agriculture will lower the yields and reduce the income in the short run but provide for a longevity and sustainability in our nation and for our farmers.

I use this as a background motivation in my new novel, AS ALL MY FATHERS WERE. You can read the first chapter on my website at www.jimmisko.com

Do you know what it's like to be short of water? Have you had to carry your water in your pack for days? 

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