Ogallala Aquifer

lies the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the largest in the world. Since it is part of the High Plains Aquifer system it underlies 80% of the High Plains. The aquifer yields 30% of the water used for irrigation in America, and 82% of the drinking water to the High Plains. After WWII, central pivot irrigation became available and the High Plains aquifer system became one of the most agriculturally productive regions in the world. Rodger Funk, one of the first farmers to create wells from the aquifer,…

The Keystone XL pipeline will travel over the Ogallala aquifer which is a freshwater source for the United States. If the pipeline crosses through the Ogallala and makes contact with the water and leaks, it will pollute it and make it nearly impossible to fix. Also if TransCanada can find a way to make the Keystone XL pipeline unbreakable, money will always…

The Ogallala Aquifer is a reservoir that many farmers have tapped into so that they can water their crops. One fifth of the total US agricultural harvest is grown from the water in the aquifer. With this being said more than 20 billion worth of food and fiber will vanish if the Ogallala Aquifer keeps drying up. Southern Kansas was hit the hardest from the decline of water. It has dropped 150 feet or more forcing farmers to abandon their wells. It is said that the aquifer did not start being…

The world's population is estimated to reach nine billion by 2050 with more food and agricultural water needed to feed the growing population. In addition to change in food and water demand, climate change and change in biofuel demand represent major risks for long-term food security. As the pressure on land and water resources intensifies, managing the available resources and feeding the growing world population seems challenging and has to be addressed. My life goal is to become an expert in…

Keystone Politics By Garrett Kizior History of the Keystone Pipeline Canada’s Athabasca River Basin is the home of one of the world’s largest stockpile of fossil fuels; bitumen. Bitumen, which lies beneath prehistoric boreal forests and peat bogs, is composed of oil, sand, and clay, and is often compared to thick tar. Because of its composition, bitumen is commonly referred to as tar sands The only method to remove the tar sands from the ground is to first inject hot steam into the earth until…

It will also cross several major rivers in the United States. Possibly most importantly it will cross the Ogallala Aquifer, a major water source of the United States(Friends Of Earth). Also stated by The Friends of the Earth organization, “The Keystone XL Pipeline will carry 830,000 barrels of dirty Tar Sands Oil into the United States daily, and result in climate…

Pioneer Living Condition in Nineteenth Century Nebraska In Nebraska pioneers living condition was very difficult during the nineteenth century. Water was one of the first considerations in selecting homestead in Nebraska. Early settlers first established claims near streams and rivers to take advantage of surface water. But these homesteads were quickly claimed, and so later settlers would have to go to new depths to find water. That means digging well. Often a new settler would dig a test…

The Keystone XL Pipeline is one of the most controversial policy issues in the last few years. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on not only physical pipeline building but also on lobbyist movements to either approve or vote down the proposed pipeline. With potentially massive environmental effects looming, the battle between an environmentally conscious president and an opposing Congress has grown into an international dispute. Legislation for the pipeline was first introduced…

Water pollution was not a big concern to most Americans in the early ninth century, it was not until nineteen sixty nine when the Cuyahoga river caught fire. Along the Cuyahoga river banks, it is filled with industrial factories and steel mills. Cuyahoga River has been abused by man, by his dumping of toxic waste into the river, where it floats down south and into Lake Erie. On the morning of June twenty second nineteen sixty nine, when a passing rail car was crossing over a suspended bridge…

can reduce their water use by almost half of the amount they a using now. 2.5% of all water on earth is freshwater, and it is not fully renewable in our lifetime. Many aquifers, which are underground layers of water-bearing rocks, are being emptied at rates as high as 250 times their ability to recharge. Deep groundwater aquifers that took tens of thousands of years to form are rapidly being drained in many areas of the…