Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Ogallala Aquifer Initiative focus areas in Nebraska for Fiscal Year 2016 include portions of four Natural Resources Districts.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced this week that the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will invest about $8 million in the Ogallala Aquifer Initiative in Fiscal Year 2016 to help farmers and ranchers conserve billions of gallons of water annually while strengthening agricultural operations.
NRCS launched the Ogallala Aquifer Initiative (OAI) in 2011 to reduce aquifer water use, improve water quality and enhance the economic viability of croplands and rangelands in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, South Dakota and Wyoming.
Nebraska currently has Ogallala Aquifer Initiative project areas in the Central Platte, Little Blue and Upper Big Blue Natural Resources Districts. An additional project area in the Middle Republican Natural Resources District has been added for Fiscal Year 2016. The total Ogallala Aquifer Initiative project investment in Nebraska for Fiscal Year 2016 is $2.4 million.
The Ogallala Aquifer is the largest aquifer in the U.S. and includes nearly all of Nebraska and sections of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. It is the primary water source for the High Plains region. Covering nearly 174,000 square miles, it supports the production of nearly one-fifth of the wheat, corn, cotton, and cattle produced in the U.S. and supplies 30 percent of all water used for irrigation in the U.S.
According to Nebraska State Conservationist Craig Derickson, Nebraska is ahead of the curve when it comes to managing groundwater in the Ogallala Aquifer.
"Thanks to the Natural Resources Districts' management of groundwater, the Ogallala Aquifer in Nebraska is in good shape. The work the NRDs are doing to manage groundwater in a sustainable way is far ahead of other regions within the Aquifer making them the perfect conservation partner for the Ogallala Aquifer Initiative," Derickson said.
The newly approved Middle Republican Natural Resource District project area includes Hayes, Hitchcock and Red Willow counties, and part of Frontier and Lincoln counties. The project will enable participants to voluntarily implement practices to conserve irrigation water and improve groundwater quality.
Nationwide, the Natural Resources Conservation Service will target nearly $8 million to support local efforts to conserve the quality and quantity of water in nine focus areas through the OAI. These projects include building soil health by using cover crops and no-till, which allow the soil to hold water longer and buffer roots from higher temperatures; improving the efficiency of irrigation systems; and implementing prescribed grazing to relieve pressure on stressed vegetation.
NRCS is working with farmers and ranchers to help them implement proven conservation solutions on targeted landscapes to improve the quality of water and soil, increase water supplies, increase the infiltration of water into the ground, and make lands more resilient to drought.
NRCS analysis of Environmental Quality Incentives Program conservation projects in the region, including those implemented through OAI, estimated reduced water withdrawals of at least 1.5 million acre-feet, or 489 billion gallons of water, from 2009 through 2013 and an energy savings equivalent of almost 33 million gallons of diesel fuel due to reduced irrigation.
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