Depletion of major groundwater source threatens Great Plains farming
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Jun 24, 2024
In the heart of the country, Great Plains farmers and ranchers produce a quarter of all U.S. crops and 40 percent of its beef. But they rely on a resource that has been slowly drying up, water. Stephanie Sy reports from Kansas for our series on the impact of climate change, Tipping Point.
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Transcript
- 0:04
- Great plains' farmers and
- ranchers produce 40% of U.S.
- Crops a beef.
- But they rely on a resource that
- has been drying up, water.
- 0:17
- Ongoing series on climate change
- and water, 'Tipping point.'
- 0:25
- >> This is a small glimpse of
- 0:27
- what the situation was.
- 0:32
- >> Dry southwestern Kansas where
- 0:35
- winds whip dust into the sky.
- 0:37
- It is difficult land to farm but
- 0:41
- Peterson is.
- 0:43
- >> We are raising sixth
- 0:45
- generation.
- 0:46
- We have been through a lot of
- 0:47
- droughts.
- 0:48
- But I know what evidence to do
- 0:51
- has been tough.
- 0:52
- >> Farms like Peterson are a
- 0:55
- vital part.
- 0:56
- Much of the grain he grows heads
- 0:59
- to the cattle feed markets
- 1:02
- powering the state's beefing
- industry.
- Nearly a quarter of the steaks
- on our dinner plate come from
- Kansas.
- >> We are dependent on
- 1:13
- agriculture and lifeblood.
- 1:16
- >> Katie runs the ground water
- 1:19
- management district in west
- 1:22
- central Kansas.
- 1:24
- >> Our banks to the dealers,
- 1:26
- anything you see is related to
- 1:29
- agriculture.
- 1:29
- >> And the agricultural industry
- 1:31
- relies on one increasing squares
- 1:36
- resource.
- 1:36
- >> Without ground water, we
- 1:38
- would ceas to exist.
- 1:44
- A massive reservoir that runs
- 1:46
- into eight states from south
- 1:48
- Dakota to Texas.
- 1:50
- As the darker color on this map
- 1:53
- shows, parts of the aquifer in
- 1:56
- Texas, Oklahoma and western
- 1:59
- Kansas are in deep decline.
- 2:01
- That's a problem because the
- economy relies on
- water-intensive crops, mainly
- corn.
- >> We don't have the streams.
- And little bit unusual.
- What we do have is the aquifer
- 2:16
- underneath our feet.
- 2:18
- >> Brownie Wilson Kansas
- 2:22
- geological survey measures
- 2:25
- wells.
- 2:26
- He has seen wells drop 100 feet
- 2:29
- since 2021.
- 2:31
- What we are doing now is not
- 2:33
- sustainable and track every
- 2:37
- year.
- 2:37
- The aquifer cannot support that
- 2:40
- pumping demands anymore.
- 2:44
- >> The depletion isn't uniform.
- 2:47
- The aquifer's topography; as an
- 2:51
- egg carton.
- 2:52
- And we call it salt rated
- 2:55
- thickness and some will have
- 2:57
- more than others.
- 2:59
- Likewise, some areas will have
- 3:00
- more decline.
- >> Peterson is one of those
- areas in southwest Kansas seeing
- the state's steepest declines in
- ground water.
- >> I have abandoned half the
- 3:12
- wells.
- 3:12
- They are not fees I will to pump
- 3:14
- anymore.
- 3:15
- If I wanted to be a water baron,
- 3:18
- I could pump all year long and
- 3:21
- make something happen out of it.
- 3:23
- But I can't sleep at night doing
- 3:26
- that.
- 3:27
- >> You know how that ends.
- 3:29
- >> I know how that ends.
- 3:31
- >> The end of livelihoods?
- 3:34
- >> But what worries me Morris
- 3:37
- the people and the communities.
- 3:39
- That's what you see suffering.
- 3:41
- See the communities drying up
- 3:42
- with the water.
- 3:44
- >> The overdraft of the aquifer
- 3:46
- is a result.
- 3:49
- >> Climate scientist co-founded
- 3:50
- the pacific institute, a global
- 3:53
- water think tank based in
- 3:54
- California.
- 3:56
- >> Farmers have brought a
- 3:57
- tremendous amount of land into
- 3:59
- production and that requires a
- 4:00
- lot of water.
- In part, climate change is
- reducing the amount of water
- going to recharge those
- aquifers.
- >> Rising temperatures means
- 4:13
- more water and intense heat
- 4:17
- causes water to evaporate.
- 4:18
- There is a long established link
- 4:21
- between climate change and
- 4:22
- drought, like the one Kansas
- 4:24
- experienced in 2022 causing
- 4:28
- record low prescription in seven
- 4:30
- western communities.
- 4:31
- >> What we are seeing in the
- 4:34
- aquifer in the depletion of
- 4:35
- ground water and central valley
- 4:37
- of California where every year,
- 4:40
- we see massive overdraft of
- 4:42
- ground water and in the southern
- 4:45
- parts of the San Joaquin valley.
- 4:48
- We have to bring ground water
- 4:51
- back into balance or else there
- 4:53
- will be serious disruptions.
- 4:56
- >> Farmers saw heavy water use
- 4:58
- as key to success, attitudes are
- 5:00
- changing.
- >> The green zone is optimal
- range for moisture for this
- crop.
- >> Steve kromp ton uses a tablet
- to manage his sprinklers.
- >> When it rained, people would
- let their systems run and
- 5:23
- everybody is so conscious of
- 5:25
- that and get supplemental rain,
- 5:27
- no reason to keep it running.
- 5:29
- I like the way they spin around.
- 5:35
- >> He became disabled after a
- 5:41
- car accident.
- 5:42
- >> We can look at that thing on
- 5:45
- the internet and know what the
- 5:47
- level of moisture is on that
- 5:49
- ground.
- 5:50
- We know after a rain whether we
- 5:52
- can turn for a while and
- 5:55
- conserve some water.
- 5:57
- >> Even though none of the wells
- 5:59
- have run dry, Compton with all
- 6:02
- the other farmers in his county
- and three neighboring counties
- have committed to cutting their
- water use up to 25%.
- Katie did yourham implemented
- water usage in her district
- following success with them in
- northern Kansas.
- 6:24
- >> People can take local
- 6:27
- control.
- 6:27
- Having conversations about what
- 6:28
- this meant and how it would
- 6:30
- affect them and the big question
- 6:32
- is what is going to happen if we
- 6:34
- don't do something.
- 6:37
- >> For Compton, it's about being
- 6:38
- a good steward of the land and
- 6:41
- resources.
- 6:42
- >> The farmer loves the land and
- 6:44
- do whatever we can to maintain
- 6:46
- that type of life and able to
- 6:49
- pass that on.
- 6:50
- >> Back down in southwest Kansas
- 6:53
- which has seen the steepest
- 6:55
- declines, no restrictions are in
- 6:57
- place to control overpumping.
- 6:59
- >> Everyone has the right to
- 7:01
- drive themselves into bankruptcy
- but somebody has to back off.
- That's what I did and I sought
- other technologies to be more
- efficient.
- The sadness of the losing the
- 7:14
- water.
- 7:15
- >> He has invested in a new
- 7:17
- irrigation system that uses
- 7:19
- water more efficiently and begun
- 7:22
- to replace corn crops, a
- 7:26
- resilient grain that can be used
- 7:28
- to feed cattle and people.
- 7:30
- Peterson has reduced his water
- 7:33
- use by 15%.
- 7:34
- And for him, that means his sons
- 7:36
- may have a shot of carrying on
- 7:39
- the family business.
- 7:40
- >> Conserving the water is a big
- 7:43
- part of them having the
- 7:44
- opportunity to be successful
- 7:47
- here.
- Could have a sound economy
- around them to support the
- operation and that would be
- fantastic.
- >> Whether or not the voluntary
- conservation efforts of farmers
- will be enough remains as
- 8:00
- uncertain as any given day's
- weather.
- For the pbs 'Newshour.'
- I'm Stephanie sy.
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