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NE Nebraska | There's more fresh water that leaves this state than any other state. Fact is there is plenty of water especially on the eastern side if Nebraska. The eastern side has springs all over with water coming up out of the ground. The aquifer is always getting recharged here. The clay ground particulates water slower than the sand ground does thus recharging happens faster in the sandier areas. We are finding out that since we started crop farming we may actually be recharging the aquifer faster believe it or not. Turns out grass is using water about 3 months longer than corn or soybeans. It's requiring more water earlier in the spring and longer in the fall. So some studies are actually showing grasslands might be using more water than crop lands. Some also believe water is quicker to run off pastures due to the hard compacted ground on grasslands verses crop land that is more mellow allowing more water absorption. The key to management of groundwater is simple. One cannot take out more than what can be replaced. If you expect to grow a crop in a area that requires more water than the area gets for rainfall annually in time you will deplete the aquifer, if you grow a crop that requires less water than your average rainfall, you'll never deplete the aquifer. For example, you cannot grow a crop that requires 20 inches of water a year in an area that only receives 10 inches of rainfall a year. Long term it is not sustainable as the aquifer will not recharge. The hard part is holding the rainfall when it comes. Sometimes you may get plenty of rain but it all comes at once and it runs off. Lots of water here to go around. | |
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Groundwater
