The Sustainability of the Ogallala Aquifer and its Economic Impact on Americas Agriculture - Research Paper Example

The sustainability of the Ogallala aquifer and its economic impact on America’s agriculture industry Contents 3 1.CHAPTERONE: INTRODUCTION 4 1.2.Background of the study 4 1.3.Hypothesis 6 1.4.Null Hypothesis 6 1.5. Delimiting factors 6 2.0. Chapter Two: Review of Literature 8 2.1. Introduction 8 2.2. Decision Support Systems for River Basin Simulation 9 2.3. Models 10 III.1.Chapter Three: Findings 12 III.2.Contamination 12 III.3.Future saturation 12 III.4.Effects of irrigation 12 III.5.Discussion 13 4.0. Chapter Four: Summations 15 5.0. Chapter Five: Conclusion 16 6.0. Recommendation 16 7.0. References 17 8.0. List of Figures 19 Abstract Ogallala Aquifer remains an indispensible source of freshwater to the American population. Proper management should be emphasized, in order to meet the needs of irrigation, residential and the industry, but keep in mind the future generation. Here, the major risk is that the rate at which the pumping is done is not proportional to the rate at which the aquifer is recharged; hence there is a state of non-equilibrium in the aquifer The great task is, therefore, to find methods of saving, the aquifer for the sake of future generations. Also, it is essential to continuously use the water for irrigation, since the climatic condition of the states affected states is cannot support agriculture. These states include Nebraska, Texas and Kansas. The sustainability of the aquifer utilization must be assessed from the inter-disciplinary perspective, where and climatology play an important role. The effect on the groundwater is depletion, where groundwater is extracted at a faster rate than the rate of replenishing. Therefore the study tries to see how the effects can be looked into and curbed for the survival of the aquifer. The study focused on some off the models that can be used to study the behavior of this important resource and advice on the best way forward after the study. This is because may be the reason as to why the aquifer seem to be endangered is not because the rate at which pumping is higher than the recharge. Therefore, the researcher recommends the reduction in the rate of water utilization, increased reforestation and the eradication of harmful substances that may end up in the aquifer. 1.1. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.2. Background of the study Earth’s water is constantly in motion, passing from one state to another, and from one location to another. This motion makes its rational planning and management a very complex (Allen et al., 2008). The availability and use of water is, mainly constrained by its spatial quality and quantity distribution. Earth’s fresh water is stored in reservoirs such as glaciers and ice caps, surface water, underground, and in the atmosphere. The replenishment rate of this water per annum is used to determine a country’s freshwater availability. Since the availability of fresh water is limited, countries in many parts of the world are working towards effective water resources management systems. Many countries, through the Global Water Partnership (GWP) and other initiatives like the European Water Framework Directive (WFD), are implementing systems which are anchored on the Dublin principles (Evett, et al., 2009). A major source of fresh water in the US is the Ogallala aquifer. It covers the High Plains aquifer in the Midwestern area of United States.  It is situated in the saturated part of the formation, thus remains one of the indispensible water source for agriculture in America. The aquifer is believed to occupy a total of 174,000 square miles across eight states (Giordano, 2009). The aquifer contains more than 978 trillion gallons of freshwater. However, the quality and the depth of the water level are declining rapidly, since water is being pumped from the wells reservoirs at a higher rate than the rate of replenishment. The Map of the regions covering the Ogallala aquifer is shown in figure 1. Also the groundwater stock in the aquifer has been steadily declining because the minimal rate of natural recharge is far exceeded by the rate of withdrawals for irrigation. Other cause of the decline of the aquifer’s drying up is that the Midwest is naturally dry climate; this is because the plains receive little rain, in most times of the year (Golden et al., 2010). Therefore profitable agriculture in this area is only through intensive irrigation. Another reason for the decline in water in Ogallala is the composition of the acquitards which hinders the refilling process of the aquifer. This is because the sediments are impermeable, thus restricting natural recharge of the underlying formation. This case has, therefore, very serious implications to the High Plains economy (Hernandez, et al., 2010). If the High Plains Aquifer would not have been affected by human activities, it would be in a state of equilibrium in which natural discharge from the aquifer would be approximately equal to natural recharge to the aquifer. However, activities such as continuous pumping from wells, surface-water diversions for irrigation and hydroelectric-power generation, and the cultivation and grazing practices, have led to a state of non-equilibrium in the aquifer. The result is higher rate of discharge than the recharge rate. This non-equilibrium leads to substantial changes in groundwater levels. Since the Ogallala aquifer remains a fundamental resource, it is prudent to come up with methods of ensuring its sustainability. Here, the researcher shall investigate the possible methods of ensuring sustainable usage of the aquifer’s water. Almost half of the population depends on the water from the Ogallala aquifer either directly for residential, industries or irrigation. Agriculture and industries account for the lion share in the America’s economy. This is not a short term investment as such, but rather long-term. However, the sustainability of the aquifer is greatly unpredictable basing on the current scenario, as suggested by Sahara (2011). Therefore, conservation of water is therefore imperative. It is extremely important that we search for solutions to deal with the problem. We also need to urgently explore the alternative approaches that could be taken instead of those being implemented now. Since the growth of the economy will be direct input of the sustainability of the Ogallala aquifer, the development of agricultural crop production under irrigated conditions has contributed to increased economic activity in the Oklahoma/ Acres irrigated in the Oklahoma Panhandle increased from 11,500 in 1950 to 427,000 in 1973, and totaled 405,700. This growth continues to increase, since the US needs more food for its growing population. 1.3. Hypothesis I. How can declining rate of water level be determined and quantified? II. What are other drivers of recharge failure of the Ogallala aquifer apart from lack of natural recharge and the high water withdrawal? III. Can the water sector reforms in US be affected so as to curb the declining rate of the aquifer? 1.4. Null Hypothesis i. The researcher expects to find out that the water levels in the aquifer can be identified through the application of models. Here, the researcher shall apply the GIS tools. ii. The researcher also expects to find out that the increased rate of destruction of forests, intensive agriculture and the global reduction in rainfall, are the main causes of the reducing rate of replenishment of the Ogallala aquifer. iii. The reforms expected include the setup of laws that govern the amount of water that can be pumped in a given period. Also, the researcher shall provide a recommendation on the best methods of rejuvenating, the initially satisfactory, rate of replenishment of the aquifer. 1.5. Delimiting factors In this study, the researcher shall focus on the investigation of the existing models. The researcher shall look into the River Basin Simulation Model RIBASIM and the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP). These models shall be applied in the research on the possible impacts of changes in the systematic usage and replacement of water in the Ogallala aquifer. Here, the researcher shall not include the MIKE Basin, Water Balance Model (Balm) and theMULti-sectoral, integrated and Operational Decision Support System (MULINO – DSS). The reason for exclusion is the incomprehensive coverage of the factors under study. 2.0. Chapter Two: Review of Literature 2.1. Introduction Water resources planning, once an exercise based primarily on engineering considerations, increasingly occurs as part of a complex, multi-disciplinary investigation that bring together a wide array of individuals and organizations with varied interests, technical expertise, and priorities. In this multi-disciplinary setting, successful planning requires effective integrated water resource management (IWRM) models that can clarify the complex issues that may arise. According to Sophocleous (2010), IWRM is viewed as a systematic process for the sustainable development, allocation and monitoring of water resources use. This definition applies in the context of social, economic and environmental objective. Rayner et al. (2014) states that the decision problems regarding water resources, such as water use, allocation, development, conservation, sustainability and sustenance of fragile ecosystems, can be confusing. In this context, the use of models proves to be the most reliable method of research in underground water studies (Leshy et al., 2010). In the case of Ogallala, the underground aquifer is an unconfined, well researched and the general topography has been enlisted in many geologic works. Here, the aquifer in study has been represented in models, whose results can be compared in order to establish the best method. In addition, the outcome of the models should be analyzed in relation to the existing research, so that substantial recommendations can be made. For this reason, the most reliable tools of analysis are integrated water resources management systems (Little et al., 2011). There is a general consensus about integrated water management at catchment level as the approach to use for sustainable water resources management. It is important, therefore, to look at the overall basin and include all the elements in the basin that can effect and be affected by water. Among the major aims of managing water resources is to safeguard human health whilst maintaining sustainable aquatic and associated terrestrial ecosystems. It is therefore important to quantify and identify the current state of, and impacts on, water environment and how these are changing with time (McCartneyet al., 2010). The elements can be evaluated analytically using a conceptual framework for water management based on the Driving forces, Pressure, State, Impact and Responses (DPSIR) framework. This allows a comprehensive assessment of the issues through examination of the relevant Driving forces and Pressures on the environment, the consequent State of the environment and its Impacts, and the Responses undertaken, and of the inter-linkages between each of these elements. 2.2. Decision Support Systems for River Basin Simulation Effective IWRM models must address the two distinct systems that shape the water management landscape; namely bio-physical and socio-economic. Factors related to the bio-physical system include; climate, topography, land cover, surface water hydrology, groundwater hydrology, soils, water quality, and ecosystems, which shape the availability of water and its movement through a watershed. Factors related to the socio-economic management system, driven largely by human demand for Climate change and variability, Total abstractions, Sectoral water use: agriculture, industry Livestock Households Climate There are several programs which are designed to simulate water development and management policies in underground water extraction (Pinkham, 2012). The generic programs that are designed to be applicable to a wide variety of specific aquifer, water resource system configurations, institutional conditions, and management issues are briefly discussed. Each of these example programs is based on a node-link network representation of the water resource system being simulated (Little et al., 2011)... Some of the programs include optimization that replaces a more detailed representation of the operating policies. All these tools contain menu-driven, graphics-based interfaces that facilitate user interaction. These programs are appropriate for use in shared vision exercises involving stakeholder involvement in model building and simulations. 2.3. Models i. River Basin Simulation Model RIBASIM ii. Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) These programs are reviewed briefly to discuss their topology, data requirements and their limitations if any. They are among the few DSS that are commercially available and have been applied on various catchments for studies or catchment management (Narasimhan, 2009). 2.3.1. River Basin Simulation Model (RIBASIM) RIBASIM is a generic model that can be used to investigate the behavior of river basins, whose hydrological conditions bear distinct characteristics. It is based on an integrated framework with a graphical enabled user interface. This interface is GIS-oriented, thus the user can evaluate a variety of measures pertaining to the infrastructure, and demand and operational management. The model uses the Case Analysis Tool (CAT) to compare and evaluate the simulation cases. RIBASIM has been applied for river basin planning and management in a great number of countries (Little et al., 2011). 2.4.2 Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP21) The Water Evaluation and Planning System Version 21(WEAP21) is an IWRM model that integrates the water supplies produced through the watershed-scale hydrologic processes. They are combined with a model that is driven by water demands and the environmental requirements. WEAP21 utilizes demand priorities and the supply preferences that are used in mathematical equations, in order to solve the water allocation problems. It serves as an alternative to the multi-criteria analysis methods. WEAP21 uses integrate the hydrological and management systems to provide an advanced platform for analysis of IWRM. This study applies WEAP21 in the Ogallala aquifer. The model would be preferred to others because of its robustness and ease of use depending on data availability. It can perform both lumped to distributed catchment hydrological simulation. The model can handle aggregated to disaggregated water management demands of various sectors. The Water Evaluation and Planning Version 21 (WEAP21) IWRM model attempts to address the gap between water management and watershed hydrology and the requirements that an effective IWMR be useful, easy to-use, affordable, and readily available to the broad water resource community (Allen et al., 2008). III.1. Chapter Three: Findings III.2. Contamination Research conducted by the Steven (2008), using the WEAP21 simulation, shows that the Ogallala aquifer is at risk of extreme contamination. Here, it was noted that most of the water that replenishes the aquifer has high concentration of toxic metals. The quantities are rising, thus may at one point, be intolerable. For instance, the survey on 700 wells, completed on the aquifer showed that there was higher concentration of lead, chlorides, fluoride, sulfates, selenium, radioactive residues and nitrates. The concentration was much higher in the south than in the North. The distribution of wells is as shown in figure 1. Here, the specified concentrations were represented as shown in table 1. III.3. Future saturation The available water in the aquifer was found to the reducing at the highest rate in the last 10 years. Here, the saturated areas in the next 30 years were predicted. The expected distribution is as shown in figure 2. In addition, the retention amount in the next 40 years requires that the rate of infiltration, into the aquifer be increased to about 1.9 times, the current rate. The other future condition is the location of the aquifer’s high concentration areas. In this case, the regions that required increased pumping included North and the drier regions. Therefore, the need to increase the catchment areas, such as forests, is important. It was also identified that lower rate of pumping out of the water, where the retention rate shall be increased is advised. The decline in amount of water is presented in the plot shown in figure 4. III.4. Effects of irrigation Irrigation accounts for about 94% and, therefore, it becomes the largest user of the aquifer’s water with the following statistics by individual city. In Nebraska (46%), Texas (30%) and Kansas (14%). Although irrigation remains the base of the regional economy, which in return supports nearly one-fifth of wheat, corn, cotton and cattle produced in the country, the results indicate that there must be heavy water usage in terms of irrigation as well as domestic and industrial demands to facilitate all these. The aquifer therefore is being depleted at fast rate than it can be replenished (Allen et al., 2008). III.5. Discussion In any water source be it from underground or catchment, water availability problems occur when the demand for water exceeds the amount available during a certain period. This in return may lead to problems of sustainability. Freshwater shortages occur frequently in areas with low rainfall and high population density and in areas with intensive agricultural or industrial activity. Ogallala aquifer as a catchment has large spatial and temporal differences in the amount of fresh water available (state). These are felt more because of rainfall variability in the catchment and the differences are expected to change due to climate changes. Other pressures on water quantity arise from the main sectoral users of water (Driving Forces) such as agriculture, livestock, households, and industry. The impacts of over-abstraction or over pumping of available water include decreases in groundwater levels and surface water flows that in turn can lead to impacts on associated aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems such as wetlands (Huron lake) (Allen et al., 2008). In addition, over-abstraction of groundwater and lack of sufficient recharge can lead to the intrusion of saltwater at the lowland aquifers in the catchment. Measures (responses) to increase the amount of available water include the construction of storage reservoirs to safeguard supplies when other sources are stressed. Other measures are aimed at reducing or controlling the demand for water including water pricing, water-saving devices and reduction of water leakage in distribution systems. The irrigation scheme at Nebraska state , which is located at the aquifer outlet, forms a very important component of the driving forces in the system. It has to rely on irrigation for sustenance of the agricultural activities. This therefore renders the dependence on Ogallala aquifer for irrigation to be a matter of necessity. For sustainability purpose, it is essential to come up with policies that shall embark on safeguarding the survival of the aquifer. The implantation of such policies will be of great achievement. When the policies are implemented, the government shall have to insist on the allowable amount of water per acre. Here, the aquifer shall be saved, since the rate of pumping out of water shall be substantially reduced. However, it should be a voluntary incentive-based policy to conserve water used from the Ogallala Aquifer Pinkham, 2012). Further, the government may embark on encouraging the farming of drought resistant varieties of crops. If drought resistant varieties of crops are made available to producers, and a restriction is placed on the policy that shall restrict the acreage of other crops, producers shall either have to decrease or maintain irrigated acres at current levels. Therefore, an incentive-based policy to encourage adoption of more water efficient technologies could potentially provide substantial water conservation of the Ogallala Aquifer. Also modern irrigation technology adoption such as use of sprinklers and drip has a significant impact on water use and is a long-term decision. Irrigators would benefit from high efficiency systems, primarily through increased crop yields. For irrigators, high efficiency systems are, potentially, an effective way of counteracting groundwater depletion. Many studies have provided evidence that modern irrigation technologies such as drip and sprinkler can yield higher expected profits than traditional technologies. The goal of this policy is to achieve adoption and expansion of modern irrigation technologies by the producers on farms presently using conventional methods of irrigation. 4.0. Chapter Four: Summations There are many threats on the sustainability of the Ogallala aquifer. In this case, its survival will largely depend on the research, as well as policies such as those mentioned above. Also, since they irrigation is mandatory in the area, the farmers can opt to limit the amount of water pumped out of the aquifer in a given period. From the data collected, it emerges that the aquifer should be replenished through natural rain. The amount of rainfall that is received, as well as other forms of precipitation, thus, may offer the recommendable information on the amount of waster that can be pumped. Another important thing is the nature of the aquifer. Since it is unconfined it is recharged through the rainwater and the snowmelt. The High plains located in the Midwest have a semiarid climate which means that the rainfall that is received is not reliable both for rain-fed agriculture as well as recharging the aquifer. Aquifer recharge is mostly affected by amount of precipitation received and bearing in mind the kind of rainfall that is received because of its semiarid nature clearly indicate that the recharge of the aquifer is challenging. Apart from precipitation which plays a significant role, there are other factors such as vegetation cover and the soil type. The High Plains provide water for irrigation, residential and industries. The aquifer is also experiencing pollution because of the chemicals that heavily used in the farms in the states that do major irrigation such Nebraska and Texas. The aquifer’s specific yield is about 15% of the water available which can be recovered using irrigation pumps while the rest remains unused and locked up in the unsaturated zone. Groundwater could be forestalled if this presently non-recoverable water could be forced to saturated zone. This could be done by pumping air into the unsaturated zone which breaks down the capillary action and promotes the movement of water to saturated zone. 5.0. Chapter Five: Conclusion The future economy of the US greatly depends on the conservation measures of the Ogallala aquifer. Since freshwater is a commodity which is both spatial and temporal in nature its sustainability is of great concern. And the success of the conserving the aquifer should be handled in an interdisciplinary perspective such as hydrology, ecology, hydrometeorology and climatology which plays vital role in recharge of Ogallala aquifer. 6.0. Recommendation The researcher recommends change of policies to the management of underground water. Here, the irrigation rate and the allowable quantity of water should be monitored. In addition, it is essential to come up with methods of increasing the rate of replenishment, where reforestation is proposed. Finally, the researcher proposed strict laws on the type of chemical that are used for irrigation, control of industrial effluents and the increased monitoring of the industrial wastes. These measures are meant to reduce the rate of contamination of the aquifer. 7.0. References Allen, V. G., Brown, C. P., Segarra, E., Green, C. J., Wheeler, T. A., Acosta-Martinez, V., & Zobeck, T. M. (2008). In search of sustainable agricultural systems for the Llano Estacado of the US Southern High Plains. Agriculture, ecosystems & environment, 124(1), 3-12. Evett, S. R., Colaizzi, P. D., O’Shaughnessy, S. A., Lamm, F. R., Trout, T. J., & Kranz, W. L. The future of irrigation on the US Great Plains. In Proceedings of the Central Plains Irrigation Conference. Giordano, M. (2009). Global groundwater? Issues and solutions. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 34, 153-178. Golden, B. B., JOHNSON, J. W., WHEELER-COOK, E., GUERRERO, B., ALMAS, L., & AMOSSON, S. (2010, April). Management Challenges for the Ogallala Aquifer. In Joint Annual Meeting of the North-Central and South-Central Sections. Hernandez, J. E., Gowda, P. H., Howell, T. A., Marek, T. H., Ha, W., & Almas, L. K. (2010, December). Evaluation of four water management policies for Ogallala aquifer sustainability in the Texas High Plains. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts (Vol. 1, p. 0931). Leshy, J. D. (2010). Interstate groundwater resources: The federal role. Journal of Environmental Law & Policy, 14(2). Little, J. B. (2011). The Ogallala aquifer: saving a vital US water source.Scientific American, March. McCartney, M., Alemayehu, T., Shiferaw, A., & Awulachew, S. (2010).Evaluation of current and future water resources development in the Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia (Vol. 134). IWMI. Narasimhan, T. N. (2009). Groundwater: from mystery to management.Environmental Research Letters, 4(3), 035002. Pinkham, E. T. (2012). State out of Water: How a Comprehensive Groundwater-Management Scheme Can Prevent the Imminent Depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer, A. Geo. Wash. J. Energy & Envtl. L., 3, 268. Rayner, F. A., Wells, D. M., Claborn, B. J., Smith, D. D., Sechrist, A. J., & Knowles, T. R. (2014). Mathematical management model of parts of the Ogallala aquifer, Texas. High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1 and Texas Tech University Water Resources Center. Sophocleous, M. (2010). Review: groundwater management practices, challenges, and innovations in the High Plains aquifer, USA—lessons and recommended actions. Hydrogeology Journal, 18(3), 559- 575. Subhadra, B. G. (2011). Water management policies for the algal biofuel sector in the Southwestern United States. Applied Energy, 88(10), 3492-3498. 8.0. List of Figures Figure 1 shows the map of Ogallala aquifer Figure 2 shows the sampled wells. Figure 4 shows the rates of decline among different aquifers in the US, where Ogallala takes the lead. Read More