A Tragedy of the Commons on the High Plains

The Ogallala Aquifer is a vast aquifer lying under the High Plains that covers over 175,000 square miles [5]. The Ogallala Aquifer is an important underground resource that has been accumulating for the past 3 million years. It has significant ecological importance to the High Plains by acting as the primary source of groundwater to the ecosystem, which can be accessed through springs or by deep-rooted plants [6]. The first humans to utilize this water directly for agriculture were white settlers around the turn of the 20th century. At that time, pumping technology and infrastructure was too inefficient to cause significant aquifer depletion. The invention of the diesel pump allowed modern-day farmers to extract massive amounts of water from the aquifer and helped to cultivate the lucrative agriculture industry in the High Plains. However, this resource usage is not sustainable, and recent studies reporting low water levels have sparked concern about the future of the aquifer. Through generations of unsustainable usage, the Ogallala Aquifer has gone from a resource that helped to end the worst effects of the Dust Bowl to one that might cause another, similar event. If irrigation practices don't change, continued depletion of the aquifer will lead to devastating agricultural, economic, and environmental consequences.

“There's a reason why Mother Nature selected those plants to be in those areas … The natives will persist because they’ve seen the coldest winters and the hottest dry summers" — Nick Bamert

Despite the water that was being extracted from the Ogallala Aquifer at the time, the drought the homesteaders of the Great Plains faced in the 1930s was crippling for agriculture and contributed to the Dust Bowl. In order to make a profit off land that is otherwise “unfarmable,” the homesteaders tore up millions of acres of buffalo grass and similar native grasses to plant crops. With no roots to hold down the soil, layers of earth were swept up by storms, creating “dusters” described by a Dust Bowl survivor as “almost like a blizzard, but black” [3]. These dusters infiltrated farmers’ lungs with dust pneumonia and silicosis, and removed layers of rich topsoil, destroying land fertility. The Dust Bowl was economically disastrous to the farmers of the Great Plains, and thousands of families migrated in order to find work and escape the dust.

The agricultural industry eventually recovered after the disastrous Dust Bowl. With the invention of new technologies, agriculture was able to progress at a never-before-seen pace. Trains, highways, and steamboats allowed valuable agricultural products to be quickly transported, giving America the infrastructure to support its growing agrarian economy. These transportation methods, when paired with new farming technology, allowed for efficient food production and distribution. The profitability of the agricultural industry attracted thousands of farmers to the Great Plains, and the demand for farmland grew greatly. According to a 2007 General Accounting Office study, nearly 25 million acres, more than half of the native grassland, have been converted to agricultural land since 1982 [2].

New pumping technology was the ultimate facilitator of agricultural industrialization on the High Plains, growing farm yields exponentially. The diesel-powered pump, which replaced the traditional windmill, was capable of extracting thousands of gallons of water per minute [2]. In these times of plenty, using sustainable irrigation techniques was not a concern. Due to the perception that the Ogallala Aquifer held seemingly endless water, farmers did not have a monetary incentive to be conservative with their irrigation practices. Farmers used traditional surface irrigation, which although is simple and affordable to implement, wastes a lot of water and leads to erosion [1]. 

“People were drilling wells… you could pump all the water you wanted to pump” — Rodger Funk

The Great Plains region is the top producer of corn, wheat, and soybeans in the U.S., all of which are powerful commodities in the domestic economy. Today, the Ogallala Aquifer supplies water to 46% of irrigated farmland in the Great Plains, and the loss of that resource would result in catastrophic economic disruption [3]. Policymakers and farmers have long dismissed the possibility of severe aquifer depletion, but after decades of groundwater overexploitation, this is increasingly becoming the reality. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences estimate that the aquifer will be 70% depleted within 50 years, giving the Great Plains agricultural community a deadline to adapt to their new water-constrained reality [3]. 

The recharge rate of the Ogallala Aquifer is slow, considering it took thousands of years for the resource to originally develop. If drained, it would take more than 6,000 years to refill naturally, which is why many scientists consider it a functionally nonrenewable resource [5]. However, the perception of the aquifer as a nonrenewable resource can be problematic in promoting sustainable usage, because people want to utilize resources that they perceive to be uselessly sitting underground.

The rapid draining of the aquifer does not only pose an economic threat, but an ecological one as well. Without water to grow crops and no native grasses to hold the soil in place, it will easily blow away, just like during the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. In fact, the parts of the land covering the Ogallala Aquifer have been identified by the USDA as a “New Dust Bowl Zone.” This area, which covers parts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas has been prioritized for grassland conservation in the face of depleting groundwater [1]. This phenomenon has already been observed by biologist Jude Smith who describes the dust conditions during a recent Texas drought: “Already it billows off plowed fields during dry spells, including along the Texas-New Mexico border, where rippling piles of it- some 10-15 feet high- can clog fields, ditches, and roadways. It blows off rooftops like snow” [1]. Without significant shifts away from the agricultural status quo, if the aquifer’s resources are depleted, the average American will be affected by job losses, price spikes, and other results of supply shortages.

“[The dust] billows off plowed fields during dry spells, including along the Texas-New Mexico border, where rippling piles of it- some 10-15 feet high- can clog fields, ditches, and roadways. It blows off rooftops like snow” — Jude Smith

The U.S. government has played a significant role in agriculture on the Great Plains since the 19th century, and during that time they have promoted their fair share of environmentally irresponsible farm practices. However, they are beginning to combat their previous environmental missteps through incentives to conserve and restore the native prairie. The USDA has created and advanced several specific programs that aim to incentivize the conservation of the Ogallala Aquifer. One example is the Ogallala Aquifer Initiative, which offers technical and financial assistance to farmers throughout the Great Plains to install a set of water conservation practices [9]. These practices involve the use of enhanced cropping systems, responsible grazing, tillage and plant litter management, and improvements in irrigation technology. The goal is that through this assistance, farmers will be able to reduce the quantity of water used and be compensated for their time and effort. 

Although the government programs provide incentive, farmers recognize the ecological and hydrological harm of their practices, and some are planting native grasses and drought-resistant crops on their own. Zach Ducheneaux, head of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency explains their rationale: “If you give a producer a choice and flexibility, they’re going to engage in soil health practices… they’re not going to continue to stay stuck in that commodity cycle” [1]. These independent farmers are planting crops that require less water and use no-till farming techniques, which leave the remnants of harvested crops in the ground to prevent soil erosion and retain moisture. In addition, growing native grasses to graze sheep and cattle allows ranchers to use significantly less groundwater than conventional pasture grass.

Farmers are not the only ones taking action against the dwindling Ogallala aquifer water supply. Researchers are developing new drought-resistant crop varieties, with the goal to reduce the water required by 10% [2]. New studies funded by the USDA aim to develop new irrigation technology that will reduce water consumption by 10-15%. Nolan Clark, an agricultural engineer at a Texas USDA research station, asserts that even if this reduction does not seem significant, it may stretch the aquifer's water another 100 years [2].

In both economics and environmental science, a tragedy of the commons is a situation in which entities, each acting in their perceived self-interest, cause depletion of a resource due to unhampered access to said resource. This is exactly what happened with farmers and the Ogallala Aquifer. Coming out of the desperation of the Dust Bowl, the attitude of unlimited potential for groundwater exploitation is understandable. However, just as with every other environmental problem caused by humans, the crisis the Ogallala Aquifer faces today is due to a lack of knowledge by policymakers and farmers of the damage their irrigation practices were taking. Now that the extent of the threat is known, it's possible to implement new strategies to manage groundwater use on the High Plains. It's essential that the public and private sectors act together now to protect this vital resource and bring more ecologically-minded farming practices to the forefront. Only then can we ensure a future of sustainable agriculture on the High Plains.