No Till Notes: 'Ogallala Aquifer'

I had a nice visit with Dwayne Beck the other day. Many of you are familiar with Beck as he has been a pioneer in no-till crop production in the High Plains. He manages the Dakota Lakes Research Farm near Pierre, S.D., and will be celebrating their 25th year of operation at this farm in September.

Beck has spoken at numerous no-till field days and winter conferences around the region including our own Panhandle No-till Partnership’s winter conference. You’ll be happy to know that he has again agreed to speak at our PNTP winter conference again this year. I’m sure he’ll again give a very educational presentation at our conference.

I’ve known Dr. Beck almost since the beginning of his tenure with the Dakota Lakes Research Farm and he has been a mentor of mine ever since. Dwayne called me the other day to find out what I knew about the Ogallala Aquifer Initiative. I was unaware of this initiative so he forwarded me a couple of power points he had received from Brad Soncksen, Assistant State Conservationist with the Natural Resources and Conservation District in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Ogallala Aquifer Initiative is a United States Department of Agriculture initiative being implemented through the Natural Resources and Conservation Districts throughout the Ogallala aquifer region. This is a large region including Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

This is an area of 225,000 square miles covering over 112 million acres. The irrigated acres in this area are 15.1 million acres making the High Plains the largest irrigated area in the Western Hemisphere. Nebraska is the leading state in irrigated acres with 46% followed by Texas with 30% and Kansas with 14% of the total irrigated acres.

Obviously the Ogallala aquifer is a vital natural resource for this region. The primary concern for the aquifer is the rate of pumping far exceeds the natural recharge of the aquifer. The Ogallala Aquifer Initiative was implemented to reduce the amount of water being removed from the aquifer, improve irrigation efficiencies, and promote recharge of the aquifer.

These goals will be met by implementation of improved cropping systems, conservation practices for improved water management, crop residues and tillage management, proper grazing systems, and restoring playa wetland and associated water shed restorations. I think continuous no-till cropping practices will play an important role in reducing the amount of water being pumped from the Ogallala aquifer.

There is funding available through the Natural Resources and Conservation Districts in some areas of the Ogallala Aquifer. These conservation activities are carried out through the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). There are also conservation projects funded through State and local agencies and conservation districts.

I would encourage you to contact your local NRCS office if you have a project for your own operation that may qualify for financial assistance. The project must increase the efficiency of your irrigation system to lower the amount of ground water you pump producing crops on your farm or ranch.

The state of Nebraska has the most at stake in conserving the Ogallala Aquifer as an important natural resource. I hope the irrigated producers in our state can lead the way in conserving this extremely valuable resource in the High Plains Region.