PLAINS, Kansas — Southwest Kansas might take a big step toward water conservation in ways previously thought to be impossible.
Groundwater Management District 3, headquartered in Garden City, is looking for feedback from local farmers on its plan to use less water for crop irrigation in the region. A discussion on proposed water cuts recently attracted farmers from counties across the southwest part of the state, who filled a small community building.
Trevor Ahring, civil engineer for the district, told the sea of Kansas State University baseball caps and flannel shirts the details of the plan – all with the objective of easing the strain on the Ogallala Aquifer, which stretches from South Dakota to Texas.
“Our goals are to stabilize the aquifer over the course of 20 years; that's a 27.7% reduction in use in this area,” Ahring said.
For the first time, the groundwater management district is proposing potentially significant water cuts, reducing water pumping by 5% each year for the next 20 years. Farmers are ready to do the work, but these kinds of changes are not going to come easy, and there is still a lot of pushback.
Groundwater management districts in Kansas were tasked with looking at ways to conserve water before a state deadline this July. If they don’t take action, the state could step in and order water use cuts itself.
District 3 is adopting the idea of a Local Enhanced Management Area, or LEMA, that will run 25 years. LEMAs are farmer-driven legally binding plans aimed at conserving water in the Ogallala Aquifer. District 3 proposed a 10% reduction limit on wells so as to not harm farmers financially.
“This was viewed by our board as a safe threshold that would limit the amount of economic hardship that might fall onto a single user,” Ahring said.
Other districts in northwest Kansas have been using LEMAs for years, and many have been successful, outperforming goals to reduce water pumping by 20%.
The Ogallala Aquifer is an underground oasis in an otherwise dry region stretching across the High Plains. Farmers and entire towns live off the water, as do several state economies.
Water levels have dropped so much in some areas of the Ogallala region that less than 40% of the original water is left.
Historically, it has been taboo to talk about pumping less water in southwest Kansas. Water usage carries the state’s dairy, beef and biofuels industries. But now farmers are being pressured to use less.
Some think the new proposal is not fair. Roger Holmes, a long-time farmer in the area, said water cuts based on previous use won’t be fair to farmers who have been using water cautiously for years. And it puts those farmers at a disadvantage financially, he said.
“One inch of water produces about 15 bushel of corn. If you have three inches less than your neighbor, your average is going to be 50 bushel less per acre than that farmer across the road,” Holmes said.
Irrigated corn pays big. The loss of just 50 bushels could cost farmers up to $200 per acre. Most farmers in the room echoed Holmes’ concerns.
But Ahring said the district cannot prioritize what is fair. Instead, it must prioritize what will reach its goals with the least amount of economic impact.
Despite their pushback and other concerns, many farmers expressed a desire to conserve the water they have left. But they said they also have to consider what is best for their families and operations.
“That's why this matters how we do this, because it doesn't affect me. I'll be dead in 10 years,” Holmes said. “It's going to affect my son, it's going to affect all these other young guys.”
Calen Moore covers western Kansas for High Plains Public Radio and the Kansas News Service. You can email him at cmoore@hppr.org.
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