Ogallala: Water for a Dry Land
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Opie, John, PUBLISHER: University of Nebraska Press, ong>Theong> Ogallala aquifer, a vast store of underground water reserves extending from South Dakota through Texas, is ong>theong> product of eons of accumulated glacial melts, ancient Rocky Mountain snow melts, and rainfall, all percolating slowly through gravel beds hundreds of feet thick. Irrigation from ong>theong> aquifer has allowed ong>theong> High Plains region to prosper, but without revolutionary changes in ong>theong> management of this resource, ong>theong> future may bring a return to subsistence conditions. Focusing on ong>theong> Ogallala aquifer, John Opie vividly portrays ong>theong> south-central plains--its natural resources, ong>theong> history of settlement and dryland farming, and ong>theong> remarkable irrigation technologies that have industrialized farming in ong>theong> region. He recounts state and local attempts to manage and conserve groundwater and describes ong>theong> operations, insights, hopes, and fragile future of several families farming on ong>theong> High Plains. In doing so, he illustrates that ong>theong> aquifer is not merely a local resource, nor simply a regional treasure: its influence is felt in farming, food, and foreign trade issues at ong>theong> national and international levels.