The Invisible Crisis Threatening America's Food Superpower Status | WSJ

Summary

The video script discusses the critical issue of groundwater depletion in the United States, with a focus on the Ogallala Aquifer, the largest underground freshwater source in the country. It covers the impact of excessive water use for agriculture, particularly in the farming communities stretching from Kansas to parts of Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. The script highlights the decline in water levels since the 1950s, the existential threat this poses to the region's agricultural and drinking water supplies, and the potential long-term consequences of this unsustainable use. It also explores the efforts by some farmers to adopt more sustainable practices, such as switching to less water-intensive crops and using irrigation more strategically. The importance of groundwater regulation and the need for a more coordinated national approach to water management are emphasized. The summary also touches on the broader implications of groundwater depletion, including its effects on urban areas and the potential for land subsidence and contamination of drinking water supplies. Finally, it mentions the opportunities for sustainable solutions, such as wastewater recycling programs, and the growing recognition of groundwater as a shared public resource.

Takeaways

• 🚨 Groundwater use is depleting aquifers across the U.S., posing a threat to drinking water and the nation's agricultural status.
• 🌽 Corn is the most water-intensive crop in the region, and its cultivation is unsustainable without significant water resources.
• 🏞️ The Ogallala Aquifer, the largest underground freshwater store in the U.S., is rapidly declining, transforming once fertile areas into unsustainable farmland.
• ⏳ Time is running out for critical parts of the Ogallala Aquifer, highlighting a larger groundwater crisis unfolding nationwide.
• 📉 Wells have declined by more than 100 feet since the 1990s, indicating a significant drop in water levels.
• 🌾 The Ogallala Aquifer supports about 30% of all U.S. crop and animal production, but its water levels reached an all-time low in 2019.
• 💧 Only 90% of water used in Kansas comes from groundwater, with 80-85% of that used for irrigation, leading to substantial aquifer drawdown.
• 📊 Some areas in Kansas have lost 50-70% of their aquifer capacity since the mid-20th century, with water replenishment taking centuries or millennia.
• 🌾 Declining groundwater has led to decreased corn yields in some regions, such as Wichita County, Kansas.
• 🛠️ Farmers like the Gigot family are switching to less water-intensive crops and implementing more strategic irrigation to conserve water.
• 🏛️ Policy experts argue that more consistent groundwater regulation and significant reductions in water use are necessary to save the aquifers.

Q & A

What is the primary concern regarding the use of groundwater in the United States?

The primary concern is that unchecked groundwater use is draining aquifers across the country, threatening drinking water supplies and the nation's status as a food superpower.

Which crop is mentioned as the highest water using crop in the region?

Corn is identified as the highest water using crop in the region.

How has the Ogallala Aquifer contributed to the transformation of the Sandhills of Kansas?

The Ogallala Aquifer, a wealth of underground water, has helped transform the dusty Sandhills of Kansas into bountiful farmland.

What is the current status of the Ogallala Aquifer?

The Ogallala Aquifer is experiencing a rapid decline in water levels, with many wells having declined by more than 100 feet since the 1990s.

How significant is the Ogallala Aquifer to US agriculture?

The Ogallala Aquifer is crucial as it supports about 30% of all US crop and animal production, making it a vital resource for farming communities.

What is the impact of scarce rainfall on agriculture in the region?

Scarce rainfall is insufficient to sustain industrial scale agriculture, leading farmers to rely heavily on draining the aquifer for irrigation.

What measures have the Gigot family taken to preserve water on their farm?

The Gigot family has switched to less water-intensive crops like Triticale and Forage sorghum, used irrigation more strategically with soil moisture probes, and cut their water use by about 26% over the last seven years.

What percentage reduction in groundwater use is estimated to slow down the decline of the aquifer?

Estimates range from a 20 to 50% reduction in groundwater use each year, depending on the location.

How does the current groundwater law impact landowners' rights to use groundwater?

Current groundwater laws, which vary from state to state, generally allow landowners to pump large amounts of groundwater for relatively low costs, treating it as an unlimited resource.

What are some of the consequences of over-pumping groundwater?

Over-pumping can lead to land subsidence, roads buckling, fissures opening in the earth, and contamination of drinking water supplies with saltwater intrusion.

What is one strategy being implemented to address the groundwater crisis?

Expanding wastewater recycling programs, which turn city sewage into drinkable water, is one strategy being implemented to reduce the demand on groundwater resources.

How are cities and agricultural communities beginning to view groundwater?

There is a growing recognition that groundwater is a public resource, with cities like Denver, Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Phoenix showing concern about the groundwater problem alongside farmers who use the bulk of the water supplies.

Outlines

00:00

🌾 Groundwater Crisis and Agriculture's Impact

The first paragraph discusses the critical issue of groundwater depletion across the United States due to unregulated use, which is particularly threatening to the agricultural sector and drinking water supplies. The Ogallala Aquifer, the largest underground freshwater source in the US, is rapidly declining, as evidenced by wells dropping over 100 feet since the 1990s. This aquifer is vital for farming communities stretching from Kansas to parts of Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas, supporting about 30% of US crop and animal production. The excessive use of water for irrigation, especially for crops like corn, is highlighted as a significant factor in this decline. The paragraph also mentions the efforts of farmers like Gina and Mark Gigot, who are attempting to conserve water by switching to less water-intensive crops and adopting more strategic irrigation methods, resulting in a 26% reduction in water use over seven years. However, experts suggest that more drastic measures, including significant reductions in water use and improved groundwater regulation, are necessary to address the crisis fully.

05:01

🚿 Expanding Water Issues and Potential Solutions

The second paragraph expands on the groundwater crisis, noting that the problem is not limited to agriculture but also affects cities, industries, and new housing developments, with Arizona being a notable example where water scarcity is limiting construction around Phoenix. The paragraph references a 2024 study showing over half of the US Aquifers have lost water in the past twenty years, leading to physical manifestations like sinking land and fissures. Additionally, over-pumping has led to contamination of drinking water supplies, as seen in Long Island, New York. Despite these challenges, there is optimism that these natural resources can be saved by reducing the rate of pumping. The narrative points to the success of wastewater recycling programs in cities and suggests that similar strategies could be employed in agriculture. There is a growing recognition that groundwater is a public resource, and political initiatives are reflecting this shift in perception, as cities become as invested in solving the groundwater crisis as the agricultural sector, which is the primary consumer of these water resources.

Keywords

💡Groundwater

Groundwater refers to water that is located beneath the Earth's surface in the ground. It is a vital source for drinking water, irrigation, and industrial use. In the video, it is the main focus as the use and depletion of groundwater is causing significant environmental and agricultural challenges, threatening the sustainability of water resources.

💡Aquifer

An aquifer is a permeable rock or soil formation that holds or transmits water, serving as a natural reservoir for groundwater. The Ogallala Aquifer, mentioned in the script, is the largest underground store of freshwater in the United States and is crucial for farming communities. The video discusses the rapid decline of this aquifer due to overuse.

💡Irrigation

Irrigation is the artificial application of water to land or soil to assist in growing crops, especially in areas where natural rainfall is insufficient. The video highlights how irrigation has been used to transform arid regions into fertile farmland but also emphasizes its role in depleting aquifers.

💡Corn

Corn is a cereal grain that is widely cultivated throughout the world and is particularly water-intensive to grow. In the context of the video, corn is identified as the highest water-using crop, which has contributed to the strain on the Ogallala Aquifer and other water resources.

💡Sustainability

Sustainability in the video refers to the ability of a resource or system to maintain its health and function without causing negative impacts on the environment or society over time. The concept is central to the discussion of groundwater use, as experts are advocating for more sustainable practices to prevent the depletion of aquifers.

💡Water Rights

Water rights are legal rights or entitlements that allow individuals or entities to use water from a particular source. The video discusses how water rights have been historically granted without sufficient regulation, leading to over-allocation and depletion of groundwater resources.

💡Regulation

Regulation in this context refers to the rules and policies put in place by governments to control and manage the use of water resources. The video points out the need for more consistent and stringent groundwater regulation across states to address the crisis.

💡Water Table

The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation in the ground where the soil is fully saturated with water. The script describes how the water table in certain areas has dropped significantly, impacting the ability to support agriculture and other water-dependent activities.

💡Yield

In agriculture, yield refers to the amount of crop produced per unit area of land. The video notes that corn yields in some areas have declined due to the depletion of groundwater, which is a direct consequence of overuse and unsustainable farming practices.

💡Water Recyling

Water recycling involves the treatment and reuse of wastewater for various purposes, including irrigation and drinking water. The video suggests that expanding wastewater recycling programs could be a strategy to conserve groundwater and promote more sustainable water use.

💡Over-Pumping

Over-pumping is the extraction of water from an aquifer at a rate that exceeds its natural replenishment rate. The video discusses the negative environmental impacts of over-pumping, such as land subsidence and the contamination of drinking water sources.

Highlights

Unchecked groundwater use is depleting aquifers, threatening drinking water and the US's status as a food superpower.

Corn is identified as the highest water-using crop in the region, potentially unsustainable for farms.

The Ogallala Aquifer, the largest underground freshwater store in the US, is rapidly declining.

The aquifer supports 30% of all US crop and animal production, but reached record low levels in 2019.

Gina and Mark Gigot are farmers actively trying to preserve water resources on their land.

Southwest Kansas agriculture is at risk of becoming a ghost town without sustainable water use.

Irrigation doubles corn yield per acre but requires significant aquifer depletion.

90% of water used in Kansas comes from groundwater, with 80-85% used for irrigation.

Some areas have lost 50-70% of their aquifer water since the 1940s or 1950s.

The water in these aquifers could take centuries to millennia to replenish.

The Gigot family has reduced water use by 26% over seven years by switching to less water-intensive crops and smarter irrigation.

Experts suggest a 20-50% reduction in annual groundwater use is needed to slow aquifer decline.

Groundwater laws in the US are inconsistent, with federal law playing a minimal role in regulation.

Kansas has implemented new systems to encourage voluntary water cuts among landowners.

Resistance to change remains in agricultural communities, with some farmers continuing to pump water unsustainably.

Groundwater depletion is not just an agricultural issue; it also affects cities and industrial use.

Overpumping is causing land to sink and fissures to open in parts of the US, including California and Arizona.

Contamination of drinking water supplies is a risk due to overpumping, as seen in Long Island, New York.

There is a window of opportunity to get aquifers onto a more sustainable path by reducing pumping.

Cities are expanding wastewater recycling programs, which can also be applied in agriculture.

Public awareness is growing around groundwater as a shared resource, influencing political initiatives and water management.

Transcripts

- [Narrator] Unchecked Groundwater use

is draining aquifers across the country,

threatening drinking water

and the nation status as a food superpower.

- Corn is the highest water using crop there is out here.

I don't think the farm could sustain it.

- [Narrator] A wealth of underground water

helped transform the dusty Sandhills of Kansas

into bountiful farmland.

But now that water is disappearing.

- I would say it's an existential threat.

- [Narrator] Here's why time is running out

for parts of this critical Aquifer

and what it reveals about the larger Groundwater crisis

unfolding across the country.

Garden City Kansas wind 30 miles per hour.

Several times a year,

Brownie Wilson travels across Western Kansas

to measure wells and track the rapid decline

of the Ogallala Aquifer, the largest underground store

of freshwater in the United States.

- This is what we call an index well

in that it records the water levels on an hourly basis.

- [Narrator] Since Wilson started working

at the Kansas Geological Survey more than 20 years ago,

many of the wells have declined by more than 100 feet.

- So this well has dropped about 150 feet since the 1950s.

- [Narrator] The Ogallala Aquifer is the lifeblood

of one of the world's most abundant farming communities,

stretching from Kansas to Eastern Colorado and the Oklahoma

and Texas panhandles.

Today it supports about 30% of all US crop

and animal production.

But in 2019, parts of the Aquifer

reached their lowest levels since the US Geological Survey

started measuring more than seven decades ago.

The once abundant water allowed farms like this one

to grow cheap cattle feed from alfalfa and corn.

It fueled the feedlots

and dairy farms that now dot the landscape

of Southwest Kansas.

- There would be no garden city

if it wasn't for the beef industry.

- [Narrator] Gina and her brother Mark Gigot

are farmers trying to preserve the water below their land.

For decades, their family has used groundwater to grow corn

and other types of row crops.

The 9,000 acre farm has historically been

one of Kansas' largest water users.

- The only thing that Southwest Kansas has is agriculture.

And without agriculture,

this is gonna be a total ghost town

in full tumbleweeds weeds.

- [Narrator] Irrigation can more than double the amount

of corn grown per acre,

but it comes at a cost requiring farmers

to drain the Aquifer.

Scarce rainfall in the region isn't enough

to sustain industrial scale agriculture.

- About 90% of the water

that's used in our state comes from a ground water supply,

and 80 to 85% of that is used for irrigation.

And so there are certain areas where we have lost 50, 60,

70% of what the Aquifer was there

going back to the 1940s or 1950s.

- [Narrator] That water could take centuries

or millennia to replenish,

meaning regions like West Kansas risk losing access

to those reserves in the future when they might

need it even more.

A lifetime map of the Ogallala Aquifer in Kansas reveals

just how dire the situation is.

- There are some areas in West Central Kansas

where the water table has been drawn down so much

that it no longer can support irrigated agriculture.

- [Narrator] As farms use up the groundwater,

corn yields have declined in some areas

like in Kansas Wichita County.

In 2023, US Corn Growers produced an average

of 173 bushels per acre.

But in Wichita, the yield was less than half of that.

Part of a decades long decline.

To extend the life of the Aquifer, the Gigot's have switched

to less water intensive crops like Triticale

and Forage sorghum.

To supplement their income,

they've also planted fields for cattle grazing.

- We knew at that point in time that we had

to make a major change within our industry

and it all surrounded around water.

- [Narrator] They've used irrigation more strategically too.

Soil moisture probes show them the water content of the soil

so they irrigate only when the soil needs it.

All of these measures allowed them to cut their water use

by about 26% over the last seven years.

But some hydrology experts say it will take even more

drastic measures to save the Aquifer.

- Estimates of what would it take to slow down

these groundwater declines are ranging from 20 to 30

to 40 some places 50% reduction in what is used each year.

- [Narrator] Policy experts say groundwater regulation

is key to reaching those targets.

- Groundwater laws across the country

are really more of a patchwork.

They're not consistent from one state to another.

- [Narrator] Burke Griggs is a law professor

at Washburn University specializing in water law and policy.

- If you own land above an Aquifer, then you're entitled

as a matter of owning that land

to use a reasonable amount of groundwater.

- [Narrator] Throughout most of the country,

groundwater has been treated

as an unlimited natural resource.

Federal law plays almost no role in regulating it,

and many state laws allow landowners to pump large amounts

of groundwater for relatively low cost.

- Starting in the 1940s,

states issued more water rights

than there was water to supply.

The states have not corrected the imbalance

between the number of water rights out there in the amount

of water that's needed to supply them.

- [Narrator] To address the problem,

Kansas has implemented new systems that encourage landowners

to make voluntary water cuts.

In some areas it worked.

- In Northwestern Kansas,

the irrigators have used new groundwater laws and policies

to really reduce the rate of depletion of the Aquifer.

But in southwestern Kansas irrigators and farm

and ranch owners have not used these tools.

- [Narrator] There is still resistance

to change throughout agricultural communities in the US.

- There is a a lot of farmers

that believe this is their water and they're gonna use it.

It's allocated to them,

they're gonna use it and they're gonna pump it

till someone tells 'em different.

- [Narrator] And it's not just an agriculture problem.

Groundwater is also being drained for cities, industrial use

and new housing developments like in Arizona.

- Arizona is limiting new construction around Phoenix

as the state's water supply continues to dwindle.

- [Narrator] A 2024 study revealed more than half

of the Aquifers in the US have lost water

over the last two decades.

In parts of Utah, California, Florida,

and Arizona, so much water is being pumped up.

It's causing roads to buckle, land to sink

and fissures to open in the earth.

- California has issues where the so much water

has been extracted, it's actually dropping

by tens of feet in terms of the water got removed

and then the ground is starting to sink down.

- [Narrator] Over pumping can also contaminate

drinking water supplies like on Long Island in New York.

Salt water is encroaching on parts

of the Aquifer that provide drinking water

for over 3 million people.

Despite the mounting challenges,

hydrology experts say there's still time

to save these critical natural resources.

- There's a window of opportunity here for us

to get this Aquifer onto a more sustainable path,

not sustainability, but on a more sustainable path.

And the key there is to reduce pumping.

- [Narrator] Throughout the country,

more and more cities

are expanding wastewater recycling programs,

turning city sewage directly into drinkable water.

This strategy can be used in agriculture too.

- So people are waking up to the public reality

that groundwater is a public resource.

And we have seen political initiatives across the West

that show that groundwater is not going to be the domain

of the agricultural fiefdoms.

That cities like Denver and Kansas City and Albuquerque

and Phoenix are just as concerned

about the groundwater problem as the farmers

who use the bulk of the water supplies.

(ominous music)