Look at the Danger of Our Own Water Suppy

1. 

   
   Approximately 95 percent of the water pumped from the Ogallala is for irrigation. The High Plains area represents 65 percent of the total irrigated acreage in the United States. The quality of the water pumped from the aquifer is suitable for irrigating; but in some places, the water does not meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) drinking water quality standards. For example, some constituents identified above EPA standards include sulfate, chloride, selenium, fluoride, nitrate, and total dissolved solids.
   
   
   "The Ogallala is a designated ground water basin. It is designated by LAW to be non-tributary to surface streams and has been also determined to be non-rechargeable.
   
   The Ogallala is mined knowing that it has a predetermined life of a hundred years. Withdrawals from the Ogallala are allowed based on the number of acres owned overlying the aquifer. A calculation is deliberately made using the total number of acres, volume in the Ogallala and dividing by 100 to get the amount allowed per acre above the Ogallala to be withdrawn/allowed each year.
   
   When the Ogallala is gone, & its gone & and those who have depended upon it will be high and dry & hard to believe that those affected have not known this for years ( and they do) & their permitting process spells out the calculations and credits & for as long as the water lasts.
   
   Maybe someday, California & Nevada in particular will come to realize the significance of a non-tributary Source of fresh water that can yield a million acre feet of water EACH YEAR which cannot be depleted ! They too will destroy their groundwater aquifers rather than seek a reliable permanent water Source which can be developed without damage to the environment or the water rights of others and can be delivered/distributed without outside power."
   
   Ray Walker (Retired Water Rights Analyst) waterrdw@yahoo.com