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Floating on water

Underneath Nebraska and seven other states is a precious natural resource that sustains life not only in Sidney, but in the areas that surround us and across the country.

"It's said that Nebraska floats on water," Don Davis, information and education coordinator with the South Platte Natural Resource District (NRD) said.

In 1972 the Nebraska Legislature combined 154 special purpose entities into twenty-three NRDs. Unique to Nebraska, NRDs are local government entities that protect natural resources.

One of those resources is the Ogallala Aquifer, underlying approximately 174,000 square miles of the Great Plains, the aquifer is over one-million years old.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) the aquifer is being depleted at an unsustainable rate.

The NRCS launched the Ogallala Aquifer Initiative (OAI) in 2011 in an effort to aid in the conservation of the aquifer.

"What we do is try to find ways to sustain water in our district and surrounding districts," Davis said. "Conservation ensures that everyone can have water, agriculture, industry and otherwise."

In order to sustain the viability and as part of the NRD's effort, each district has certain subdivisions with certain water allocations.

For instance, what is referred to as the "Sidney Draw area" has an allocation of forty two inches over a three year period.

"Agriculture uses ninety-seven percent of the water in Kimball, Cheyenne and Deuel counties," Davis said. "Industry uses two percent and residents use one percent."

The Sand Hills of Nebraska that blanket the aquifer, Davis said, has the most saturated amount of water in the underneath it, due to the sandy environment.

"The Sand Hills has more saturation because water can flow through sand much easier," Davis said.

In the Sand Hills, saturation is 1,000 to 1,200 feet thick. In our area it ranges from 0-50 feet in some areas, to 200-400 feet thick.

There are more aquifers then just the Ogallala, Davis said, for example in the Sidney area there are four different aquifers.

"The Ogallala just happens to be one of the biggest in the world," Davis said.

Trends in groundwater storage were observed from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Grace mission launched in 2002. According to data from that mission, the largest aquifer is the Nubian Aquifer system in Africa, the Ogallala comes seventeenth on that list.

Aquifer levels are also maintained based on the amount of moisture areas receive. With the climate constantly changing drought monitoring is a way to project water levels.

The U.S. Drought Monitor is map created through a partnership between the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Drought data is constantly reviewed and updated weekly.

"Our are hasn't seen a drought since 2012, but we are starting to see an abnormal area of drought coming into Nebraska," Davis said.

"We might have enough water to sustain us now, but our goal is to have sustainability for our future too," Davis said.

 

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