Ogallala Aquifer

SOUTH DAKOTA

South Dakota WYOMING

Wyoming
Platte R.

Nebraska NEBRASKA

Colorado
Kansas
Ark
ans KANSAS
as R
. COLORADO

New Mexico Oklahoma OKLAHOMA

Red R
. High Plains Aquifer
NEW MEXICO Water level change, in
Br
feet, from 1980 to 1995
az
os Increases:
R. More than 40
20 to 40
10 to 20
5 to 10
Texas Insignicant change
HIGH PLAINS AQUIFER
Saturated Thickness Declines:
in 1997 TEXAS 5 to 10
meters feet 10 to 20
0-15 0-50 20 to 40
15-30 50-100 More than 40
30-61 100-200 Area of little or no
61-122 200-400 saturated thickness
122-183 400-600
Source: USGS OFR 99-197
183-244 600-800
244-305 800-1000
305-366 1000-1200
Island
Regions where the water level has declined in the period 1980-
Source: USGS OFR 00-300
1995 are shown in yellow and red; regions where it has increased
are shown in shades of blue. Data from the USGS
Saturated thickness of the Ogallala Aquifer in 1997 after several
decades of intensive withdrawals. The breadth and depth of the
aquifer generally decrease from north to south. extraction and pollution. Since 1950, agricultural irriga-
tion has reduced the saturated volume of the aquifer by an
estimated 9%. Once depleted, the aquifer will take over
The Ogallala Aquifer is a shallow water table aquifer 6,000 years to replenish naturally through rainfall.[5]
surrounded by sand, silt, clay and gravel located beneath
the Great Plains in the United States. One of the worlds The aquifer system supplies drinking water to 82% of
largest aquifers, it underlies an area of approximately the 2.3 million people (1990 census) who live within the
[6]
174,000 sq mi (450,000 km2 ) in portions of eight states boundaries of the High Plains study area.
(South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas,
Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas).[1] It was named in
1898 by geologist N. H. Darton from its type locality near 1 General characteristics
the town of Ogallala, Nebraska. The aquifer is part of
the High Plains Aquifer System, and rests on the Ogallala The deposition of aquifer material dates back 2 to 6
Formation, which is the principal geologic unit underly- million years, from the late Miocene to early Pliocene
ing 80% of the High Plains.[2] ages when the southern Rocky Mountains were still tec-
Large scale extraction for agricultural purposes started tonically active. From the uplands to the west, rivers
after World War II due partially to center pivot technol- and streams cut channels in a generally west to east
ogy and to the adaptation of car engines for groundwa- or southeast direction. Erosion of the Rockies pro-
ter wells.[3] Today about 27% of the irrigated land in the vided alluvial and aeolian sediment that lled the ancient
entire United States lies over the aquifer, which yields channels and eventually covered the entire area of the
about 30% of the ground water used for irrigation in the present-day aquifer, forming the water-bearing Ogallala
United States.[4] Currently the aquifer is at risk for over- Formation.[7][8] In that respect, the process is similar to

1
2 2 AQUIFER WATER BALANCE

Estimated fresh
groundwater
USGS water quality standards, but continue to gradually
SOUTH DAKOTA
withdrawals increase over time.[12] This trend can impact the future
for all uses,
from all groundwater sustainability for portions of the aquifer.
WYOMING aquifers,
by county
for year 2000
NEBRASKA
High Plains
Aquifer extent
shown in red
(approx.) 2 Aquifer water balance
COLORADO

KANSAS
An aquifer is a groundwater storage reservoir in the water
cycle. While groundwater is a renewable source, reserves
replenish relatively slowly. The USGS has performed sev-
OKLAHOMA eral studies of the aquifer, to determine what is coming in
NEW MEXICO
(groundwater recharge from the surface), what is leaving
(water pumped out and baseow to streams), and what
the net changes in storage are (rise, fall or no change).

160 234
TEXAS
Withdrawals from the Ogallala Aquifer for irrigation
amounted to 26 km3 (21,000,000 acreft) in 2000. As
Million Million
gallons liters of 2005, the total depletion since before development
per mi 2 per km 2
per year per year amounted to 253,000,000 acre feet (312 km3 ).[1] Some
estimates indicate the remaining volume could be de-
0 0 Water use data: http://nationalatlas.gov/mld/wu2000t.html
Water use research: http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2004/circ1268/
pleted as soon as 2028. Many farmers in the Texas High
County geography: http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html#co2000p
Aquifier boundaries: http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/ofr/ofr99197
Plains, which rely particularly on the underground source,
are now turning away from irrigated agriculture as they
Groundwater withdrawal rates (fresh water, all sources) by become aware of the hazards of overpumping.[13]
county in 2000. Source: National Atlas

2.1 Groundwater recharge

those currently prevailing in other modern rivers of the
area, such as the Kansas River and its tributaries. The
The rate at which recharge water enters the aquifer is
major dierences are time and depth.
limited by several factors. Much of the plains region is
The depth of the Ogallala varies with the shape of then- semiarid, with steady winds that hasten evaporation of
prevailing surface, being deepest where it lls ancient surface water and precipitation. In many locations, the
valleys and channels. The Ogallala Formation consists aquifer is overlain, in the vadose zone, with a shallow
mostly of coarse sedimentary rocks in its deeper sections, layer of caliche that is practically impermeable; this lim-
which transition upward into ner-grained material.[9] its the amount of water able to recharge the aquifer from
The water-saturated thickness of the Ogallala Formation the land surface. However, the soil of the playa lakes is
ranges from a few feet to more than 1000 feet (300 m) dierent and not lined with caliche, making these some
and is generally greater in the Northern Plains.[10] The of the few areas where the aquifer can recharge. The de-
depth of the water below the surface of the land ranges struction of playas by farmers and development decreases
from almost 400 feet (120 m) in parts of the north to be- the available recharge area. The prevalence of the caliche
tween 100 and 200 feet (30 and 60 m) throughout much is partly due to the ready evaporation of soil moisture
of the south. Present-day recharge of the aquifer with and the semiarid climate; the aridity increases the amount
fresh water occurs at an exceedingly slow rate, suggesting of evaporation, which in turn increases the amount of
that much of the water in its pore spaces is paleowater, caliche in the soil. Both mechanisms reduce the amount
dating back to the most recent ice age and probably ear- of recharge water that reaches the water table.
lier. Recharge in the aquifer ranges from 0.024 inches (0.61
Groundwater within the Ogallala generally ows from mm) per year in parts of Texas and New Mexico[14]to 6
west to east at an average rate of a foot per day. Hydraulic inches (150 mm) per year in south-central Kansas.
conductivity, or the ability for a uid (water) to move
through porous material, ranges from 25 to 300 feet per
day.[11] Water quality within the Ogallala varies with the 2.2 Groundwater discharge
highest quality for drinking and irrigation in the northern
region while the southern region had the poorest.[12] Hu- The regions overlying the Ogallala Aquifer are some
man and natural processes over the past 60 to 70 years, of the most productive regions in the United States
including irrigation density, climate, and nitrogen appli- for ranching livestock, and growing corn, wheat, and
cations, have caused higher concentrations of contami- soybeans. The success of large-scale farming in areas that
nants including nitrates. Nitrate levels generally meet do not have adequate precipitation and do not always have
2.4 Accelerated decline in aquifer storage
2
NASA ASTER image of a roughly 557 mi area of elds (1443
km2 ) in Kansas watered from the Ogallala Aquifer with center
pivot irrigation systems
perennial surface water for diversion has depended heav-
ily on pumping groundwater for irrigation.
Early settlers of the semiarid High Plains were plagued by
crop failures due to cycles of drought, culminating in the
disastrous Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Only after World War
II, when center pivot irrigation became available, was the
land mass of the High Plains aquifer system transformed
into one of the most agriculturally productive regions in
the world.
2.3 Change in groundwater storage
Ground water levels decline when the rate of extraction
by irrigation exceeds the rate of recharge. At places,
the water table was measured to drop more than 5 ft
(1.5 m) per year at the time of maximum extraction. In
extreme cases, the deepening of wells was required to
reach the steadily falling water table. In the 21st cen-
tury, recognition of the signicance of the aquifer has
led to increased coverage from regional and international
journalists.[15][16][17][18]
The USGS estimated that total water storage was about
2,925,000,000 acre feet (3,608 km3 ) in 2005. This is
a decline of about 253,000,000 acre feet (312 km3 ), or
9%, since substantial groundwater irrigation development
began in the 1950s.[1]
Water conservation practices (terracing and crop rota-
tion), more ecient irrigation methods (center pivot and
drip), and reduced area under irrigation have helped to
slow depletion of the aquifer, but levels are generally still
dropping in areas including southwestern Kansas and the
Texas Panhandle. In other areas, such as parts of eastern
and central Nebraska and of the region south of Lubbock,
Texas, water levels have risen since 1980.
3
The center-pivot irrigator was described as the
villain[19] in a New York Times article, Wells Dry,
Fertile Plains Turn to Dust recounting the relentless
decline of parts of the Ogallala Aquifer. Sixty years of
intensive farming using huge center-pivot irrigators has
emptied parts of the High Plains Aquifer.[19] Hundreds
to thousands of years of rainfall would be needed to
replace the groundwater in the depleted aquifer. In 1950,
irrigated cropland covered 250,000 acres. With the
use of center-pivot irrigation, nearly three million acres
of land were irrigated.[19] In some places in the Texas
Panhandle, the water table has been drained (dewatered).
Vast stretches of Texas farmland lying over the aquifer
no longer support irrigation. In west-central Kansas,
up to a fth of the irrigated farmland along a 100-mile
swath of the aquifer has already gone dry.[19]
The center-pivot irrigation system is considered to be
a highly ecient system which helps conserve water.
However, by 2013, as the water consumption eciency
of the center-pivot irrigator improved over the years,
farmers chose to plant more intensively, irrigate more
land, and grow thirstier crops rather than reduce water
consumption.[19] One approach to reducing the amount
of groundwater used is to employ treated recycled water
for irrigation; another approach is to change to crops that
require less water, such as sunowers.[20]
Several rivers, such as the Platte, run below the water level
of the aquifer. Because of this, the rivers receive ground-
water ow (baseow), carrying it out of the region rather
than recharging the aquifer.
The $46.1-million Optima Lake dam in western
Oklahoma was rendered useless when the dropping level
of the aquifer drastically reduced ow of the Beaver
River, its intended source of water.[21]
2.4 Accelerated decline in aquifer storage
The depletion between 2001 and 2008, inclusive, is about
32% of the cumulative depletion during the entire 20th
century.[22] In the United States, the biggest users of water
from aquifers include agricultural irrigation and oil and
coal extraction.[23] Cumulative total groundwater deple-
tion in the United States accelerated in the late 1940s and
continued at an almost steady linear rate through the end
of the century. In addition to widely recognized envi-
ronmental consequences, groundwater depletion also ad-
versely impacts the long-term sustainability of groundwa-
ter supplies to help meet the nations water needs.[22]
Since the 1940s, pumping from the Ogallala has drawn
the aquifer down more than 300 feet (90 m) in some ar-
eas. Producers have taken steps to reduce their reliance
on irrigated water. Streamlined operations allow them to
produce signicantly greater yield using roughly the same
amount of water needed four decades ago. Still, losses to
the aquifer between 2001 and 2011 equated to a third
of its cumulative depletion during the entire 20th cen-
4 4 CONSERVATION

tury. The Ogallala is recharged primarily by rainwater, proposed TransCanda projects. Although it is com-
but only about one inch of precipitation actually reaches mon for companies applying to build government projects
the aquifer annually. Rainfall in most of the Texas High to be involved in assigning and paying for the impact
Plains is minimal, evaporation is high, and inltration analysis,[38] several opponents of the project suggested
rates are slow.[24] there could be a conict of interest. In response to that
concern, the Department of States Oce of the Inspec-
tor General conducted an investigation of the potential
3 Environmental controversies conict of interest. The February 2012 report of that in-
vestigation states no conict of interest existed either in
the selection of the contractor or in the preparation of the
3.1 Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline environmental impact statement.[39]
U.S. President Barack Obama initially rejected the Key-
See also: Environmental risks of the Keystone XL
stone XL pipeline in January 2012, saying he wanted
pipeline
more time for an environmental review.[40] On Febru-
ary 17, 2013, a rally at the National Mall drew an esti-
In 2008, TransCanada Corporation proposed the con- mated 40,000 in protest of Keystone XL.[40] On March
struction of the 1,661-mile (2,673 km) Keystone XL 1, 2013, the U.S. State Department released its Keystone
pipeline to carry oil from the Athabasca oil sands of pipeline Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact State-
Alberta to reneries near Houston, Texas.[25][26] The pro- ment, which concluded that a large crude oil spill from the
posed route of the pipeline crosses the eastern part of the pipeline that reached the Ogallala could spread as far as
Nebraska Sandhills; opponents of the route cite the risk 1,214 feet, with dissolved components spreading as much
to the Ogallala Aquifer posed by the possibility of con- as 1,050 feet further.[41] Secretary of State John Kerry is
tamination from spilled dilute bitumen.[27][28] reviewing the permit application and the White House is
Research hydrogeologist James Goeke, professor emer- expected to announce its decision after the Secretary has
itus at the University of Nebraska, who has spent more familiarized himself with the project.[40]
than 40 years studying the Ogallala Aquifer, phoned
TransCanada ocials and quizzed them on the project,
and satised himself that danger to the aquifer was small,
because he believes that a spill would be unlikely to pen- 4 Conservation
etrate down into the aquifer, and if it did, he believes that
the contamination would be localized. He noted: A lot Since 2010, the North Plains Groundwater Conserva-
of people in the debate about the pipeline talk about how tion District, which encompasses eight counties north of
leakage would foul the water and ruin the entire water Amarillo, including Moore and Dallam Counties, has of-
supply in the state of Nebraska and thats just a false, fered a $300,000 annual demonstration project to con-
[29]
Goeke said "... a leak from the XL pipeline would serve water that farmers pump from the Ogallala Aquifer.
pose a minimal risk to the aquifer as a whole.[30] Participating farmers grow corn with just over half of
Pipeline industry spokesmen have noted that thousands the water that they would normally require to irrigate
of miles of existing pipelines carrying crude oil and re- the elds, or they plant several weeks later than custom-
ned liquid hydrocarbons have crossed over the Ogallala ary. Pivot sprinklers are used in the project, rather than
Aquifer for years, in southeast Wyoming, eastern Col- the more expensive drip irrigation. According to dis-
orado and New Mexico, western Nebraska, Kansas, Ok- trict manager Steve Walthour, conservation is essential
lahoma, and Texas.[31][32][33][34][35] The Pioneer crude oil considering declining levels of the aquifer.[42] The local
pipeline crosses east-west across Nebraska, and the Pony non-prot organization Ogallala Commons, named for
Express pipeline, which crosses the Ogallala Aquifer in the aquifer itself, which not only collaborates and sup-
Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas, was being converted as ports the local communicates, also works to conserve the
of 2013 from natural gas to crude oil, under a permit from Ogallala Aquifer and the surrounding area.[43][44][45]
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.[36] Eleven farmers in 2013 participated in the conservation
As the lead agency in the transboundary pipeline program, with some planting in dry earth, rather than wa-
project, the U.S. State Department commissioned an tered soil. They are leaving more space between plants,
environmental-impact assessment as required by the a technique that retains moisture for a longer period of
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The time. Soil sensors permit farmers to gather accurate in-
Environmental Impact Statement concluded that the formation about the moisture level of their crops. The
project posed little threat of adverse environmental motivation to save water comes from the districts regu-
impacts,[27][37] the report was drafted by Cardno En- lations on extracting water from the aquifer. The United
trix, a company that assisted both the Department of States Geological Survey determined the water level in
State and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the aquifer has dropped more in Texas than in any other
in preparing environmental impact statements for other state in the basin.[42]

Farmers on their own land may draw water without charge [11] Gutentag, E. D, Heimes, F. J, Krothe, N. C, Luckey, R.
from the aquifer. Pumping costs are low because the
fuel used, natural gas, is inexpensive. The North Plains
district rst established limits on pumping in 2005 and
tightened the regulations four years later. Certain wells
are now required to have meters. Yet another challenge
facing the district is that higher prices for crops have [12] Gurdak, J. J, McMahon, P. B, Dennehy, K, Qi, S. L.
prompted some to plant additional elds and further in-
crease the use of water from the aquifer.[42]
5 See also
6 References
[1] Mcguire, V.L. (May 2007). Changes in Water Levels
and Storage in the High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment
to 2005. USGS Fact Sheet 2007-3029. USGS. Retrieved
2009-08-12.
[2] Darton, N.H. 1898. Preliminary report on the geology
and water resources of Nebraska west of the one hundred
and third meridian. In: Walcott, C.D. (ed), Nineteenth
Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey,
1897-1898, Part IV, pp. 719-785.
[3] Hornbeck, Richard, and Pinar Keskin (September 2012).
The Historically Evolving Impact of the Ogallala
Aquifer: Agricultural Adaptation to Groundwater and
Drought (PDF). Harvard Environmental Economics Pro-
gram. Cambridge. Retrieved 10/2/16. Check date values
in: |access-date= (help)
[4] Ogallala Aquifer Initiative 2011 Report (PDF). Natu-
ral Resources Conservation Service. United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture. 2011. Retrieved 10/2/16. Check
date values in: |access-date= (help)
[5] Plumer, B. (2012). Where the worlds running out of
water, in one map. Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-
08-18.
[6] Dennehy, K.F. (2000). High Plains regional ground-
water study: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-091-
00 (PDF). USGS. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
[7] Gustavson, T. C, Winkler, D. A. (1988). Depositional fa-
cies of the Miocene-Pliocene Ogallala Formation, north-
western Texas and eastern New Mexico. Geology, 16(3),
203-206. Retrieved from: http://geology.gsapubs.org/
content/16/3/203.short
[8] Diendal, R. F. (1984). Comments on the geologic his-
tory of the Ogallala Formation in the southern panhan-
dle of Nebraska. Papers in Natural Resources. Paper
116. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/
viewcontent.cgi?article=1117&context=natrespapers
[9] North Plains Groundwater Conservation District Archived
July 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
[10] High Plains Underground Water Conservation District #1
(Texas) retrieved April 9, 2007.
5
R, Weeks, J. B. (1984). Geohydrology of the High Plains
Aquifer in parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New
Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.
U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1400-B. Re-
trieved from http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1400b/report.pdf
(2009). Water quality in the High Plains Aquifer, Col-
orado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South
Dakota, texaqs, and Wyoming. National Water-Quality
Assessment Program, USGS Circular 1337. Retrieved
from http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1337/pdf/C1337.pdf
[13] Ogallala aquifer - Water hot spots. BBC News. 2003.
[14] Geohydrology of the High Plains Aquifer in parts of Col-
orado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South
Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Gutentag, E. D.; Heimes,
F. J.; Krothe, N. C.; Luckey, R. R.; Weeks, J. B. 1984.
[15] Shrinking aquifer looms as big problem for farms.
Nancy Cole, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. September 24,
2006. Last accessed October 24, 2006.
[16] Column - Mansel Phillips: Too many thirsty industries,
not nearly enough water. Mansel Phillips, Amarillo Globe
News. October 4, 2006. Last accessed October 24, 2006.
[17] Another sign of long-term water worries, Lincoln Star
Journal, October 8, 2006. Last accessed November 20,
2012
[18] Daily Telegraph (UK) Saturday Magazine Issue no 48,446
(dated 5 March 2011) pp 26-32 High and Dry Report
by Charles Lawrence
[19] Wines, Michael (19 May 2013). Wells Dry, Fertile
Plains Turn to Dust. New York Times.
[20] Jeremy P. Meyer, Farmers tower of power, Denver Post,
2 October 2006. Last accessed October 24, 2006
[21] Logan Layden, If you Want to Build a New Lake in Ok-
lahoma, Forget History, March 28, 2013, StateImpact
OklahomaStateImpact Okahoma website. Retrieved
2015-06-01.
[22] Konikow, Leonard F. Groundwater Depletion in the
United States (19002008) (PDF) (Report). Scientic In-
vestigations Report. Reston, Virginia: U.S. Department
of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. p. 63.
[23] Zabarenko, Deborah (20 May 2013). Drop in U.S. un-
derground water levels has accelerated: USGS. Wash-
ington, DC: Reuters.
[24] Texas Water Report: Going Deeper for the Solution Texas
Comptroller of Public Accounts. Retrieved 2/10/14.
[25] Hovey, Art. TransCanada Proposes Second Oil
Pipeline. Lincoln Journal-Star. 2008-06-12. Repro-
duced at Downstream Today website. Retrieved 2011-08-
27.
[26] Keystone Pipeline Project. Archived November 9,
2012, at the Wayback Machine. TransCanada. Retrieved
2011-08-27.
6 7 EXTERNAL LINKS

[27] Morton, Joseph, and Paul Hammel. Report: Sand Hills
route best. Omaha World-Herald. 2011-08-27. Re-
trieved 2011-08-27.
[28] Keystone XL Pipeline. Friends of the Earth. Retrieved
2011-08-27.
[29] Shelby Fleig and Kyle Cummings, UNL expert: Ogallala
Aquifer has little risk of Keystone pipeline oil spills, Daily
Nebraskan (Lincoln), 15 Apr. 2013.
[30] James Goeke, The Truth About Aquifers, New York
Times, 4 October 2011.
[31] Larry Lakely, Map of Pipelines and the Ogallala Aquifer,
2012, 20 Jan. 2012.
[32] Andrew Black and David Holt, Guest View: We need
crude oil pipelines Lincoln (NE) Journal Star, 12 July
2011.
[33] Allegro Energy Group, How Pipelines Make the Oil Mar-
ket Work Their Networks, Operation and Regulation
Archived December 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.,
December 2001, Association of Oil Pipe Lines and Amer-
ican Petroleum Institute, p.8-9.
Brauer, who manages the Ogallala Aquifer program for a
United States Department of Agriculture research labora-
tory in the Panhandle town of Bushland. A group from the
Middle Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, south-
west of Fort Worth, went to see Gralls demonstration eld
last year and came away impressed. I know my board
president said itd be nice to be able to do something like
that here at home, said Joe Cooper, the general manager
of the Middle Trinity district. External link in |work=
(help)
[43] Outdoor Oklahoma. 59-60. Oklahoma Department of
Wildlife Conservation. 2003: 109. Retrieved December
3, 2015.
[44] Co-Ops Rock!". States News Service. February 18,
2013. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
[45] Grant awarded for youth engagement. lajuntatri-
bunedemocrat.com. September 20, 2015. Retrieved De-
cember 3, 2015.
7 External links

[34] Pipeline 101, Rened products pipelines, accessed 8 Oct.
2013.
[35] Oil Sands fact Check, Myth vs. Fact: KXL will Threaten
the Ogallala Aquifer 20 May 2012.
The Ogallala Aquifer Manjula V. Guru, Agricul-
tural Policy Specialist and James E. Horne, Presi-
dent & CEO, The Kerr Center for Sustainable Agri-
culture, Poteau, Oklahoma

[36] Paul Hammel, Smaller oil pipeline to cross Ogallala
Aquifer, Omaha.com, 23 Aug. 2012.
[37] O'Meara, Dina, and Sheldon Alberts. U.S. report clears
way for TransCanadas Keystone XL pipeline. Calgary
Herald. 2011-08-27. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
USGS High Plains Regional Groundwater Study
A Legal Fight in Texas over the Ogallala Aquifer
Kansas Geological Survey information on the High
Plains / Ogallala Aquifer

[38] "Pipeline Review Is Faced With Question of Conict",
New York Times, October 7, 2011.
[39] United States Department of State and the Broad-
casting Board of Governors Oce of Inspector Gen-
eral Oce of Audits. February 2012. Special Review
of the Keystone XL Pipeline Permit Process. Report
Number AUD/SI-12-28.
Rapid Recharge of Parts of the High Plains Aquifer
Indicated by a Reconnaissance Study in Oklahoma
Coordinates: 365926N 1012652W / 36.99056N
101.44778W
Environmental Science

[40] Raerty, Andrew. Thousands rally in D.C. against Key-

stone Pipeline. NBC News. National Broadcast Com-
pany. Retrieved 21 February 2013.

[41] U.S. Dept. of State, Draft Supplemental Environmental

Impact Statement, 1 March 2013, p.4.16-2.

[42] Gailbraith, Kate (July 1, 2013). In Texas, a push to show

farmers how to save water. http://lubbockonline.com/.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
The North Plains district rst imposed pumping limits
in 2005 and tightened them in 2009. In 2005, it also
began phasing in requirements for some wells to have
meters. Both moves were controversial at the time. A
larger groundwater district just south of North Plains, the
16-county High Plains Underground Water Conservation
District, has struggled in its attempts to impose metering
requirements and pumping limits. North Plains ocials
just were a little further ahead of the curve, said David
 7

8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1 Text
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