Retracted: Conserving and Extending the Useful Life of the Largest Aquifer in North America: The Future of the High Plains/Ogallala Aquifer

Abstract

The water‐level decline of the High Plains/Ogallala aquifer is one of the largest water management concerns in the United States. The economy and livelihood of people living in that vast region depend almost exclusively on water extracted from that aquifer. A debate about its future is ongoing, and questions remain as to how best to conserve the groundwater resource. Maintaining the aquifer will require reductions in pumping and irrigated hectarage and adopting additional conservation measures. Eventually, the agricultural system will have to be based dominantly on the renewable water resources of the region. In effect, this means a limited‐irrigation and/or dry‐farming regime. What Kansas is currently doing to further extend the life of the aquifer is presented here together with additional measures that could be taken. A key management approach to help sustain the aquifer in western Kansas is to divide the aquifer into subunits on which to base localized management decisions. Another recently adopted measure is the establishment of local enhanced management areas, which would allow locally agreed upon specific corrective controls in those areas. History has shown that incentive and voluntary plans alone have not been successful in halting water‐level declines. Thus, limits and timelines need to be set and checks must be in place to enforce strict administration of conservation measures. It is advocated that water laws be reformed and modernized so that “water rights” are constrained by the current availability of water and the preservation of the resource base for future generations.

Tapping unsustainable groundwater stores for agricultural production in the High Plains Aquifer of Kansas, projections to 2110

“…The reality of the situation is causing stakeholders to consider conservation options such as the 2012 K.S.A. 82-1041 that established Local Enhanced Management Areas (LEMAs), such as High Priority Area 6 in Sheridan County, where 26% reductions are planned (36).…”

Structural impediments to sustainable groundwater management in the High Plains Aquifer of western Kansas

“…IGUCAs are powerful policy instruments. This designation can close an area to any new water permits, reduce allowable withdrawals among existing permit holders, and require rotation of water diversions within an area (Sophocleous 2012b). There are currently eight IGUCAs in Kansas (Sophocleous 2012a).…”

“…In 1977, the Kansas legislature amended the KWAA to make diverting water for any nondomestic use a criminal offense without a permit (Sophocleous 2012a). The GMDA was amended in 1978 by the Kansas legislature to allow the state's Chief Water Engineer to designate Intensive Groundwater Use Control Areas (IGUCAs) in places where groundwater levels were deemed to have declined significantly or otherwise where more stringent regulation was necessary in the public interest (Sophocleous 2012b). IGUCAs are powerful policy instruments.…”

A framework for modelling the complexities of food and water security under globalisation

“…Those regions or sectors that are locked into unsustainable or vulnerable water use pathways should be prioritised for intervention (Fig. 8) (Liebowitz and Margolis, 1995;Romero-Lankao et al, 2017;Sophocleous, 2012).…”

“…1c). For example, the combined effect of small-scale abstraction of ground and surface water to secure short-term food and water security can lead to large-scale and long-term depletion of water resources, which ultimately undermines food and water security (Sivapalan and Blöschl, 2015;Sophocleous, 2012).…”