The University of Arizona: WRRC Water Webinar – Charting Paths Forward for the High Plains Aquifer in Kansas

Addressing the depletion of aquifers that support irrigated agriculture and provide drinking water for millions is a global challenge.

Like many regional aquifers, the High Plains aquifer in western Kansas is under stress produced by decades of intensive pumping for irrigation. The resulting large water-level declines observed across the region pose an existential threat to the viability of irrigated agriculture and the rural communities that depend on it. This WRRC Water Webinar will discuss how groundwater users in western Kansas are addressing this threat through pumping reductions and modifications of agricultural practices. Dr. Butler will describe the water balance approach that enables the assessment of the impact of pumping reductions and the management frameworks that facilitate such reductions. These two elements are helping to chart more positive paths forward for the High Plains aquifer in Kansas.