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Criminalization of Irrigation “We are running out of water.” “You can’t transfer water; it’s a pipe dream.” “We will be out of water in a few years.” “The farmers waste a lot of water; they can use much less and still raise a crop.” There is a group of people living here who have pumped water for many years and are now feeling guilty about what they have done, so they want to stop everyone else from committing the same “crime” they have. These people speak with great authority about how we are destroying the aquifer, how we must stop, and how anyone disagreeing with them must be a bad person. Many of these people, including employees of the state-funded Nebraska Game and Parks, are spreading the idea that it is morally wrong to use water from the aquifer -- especially if it is used faster than what it can be replenished via rainfall. Some of these people point to the water situation
that exists in the south half of Professors from UNL are enlisted to generate data that will help scare the public into reducing water usage or to generate data saying a farmer can raise a crop with much less water than what he has been using. The idea that farmers are water wasters and destroyers of the environment is being preached by some who live here in this community, and it is being believed by the policy makers. Before you believe those who claim that “the sky is falling,” please take the time to learn the facts. If you only listen to one side of the story, it is easy to be misled. Most stories have more than one way of looking at them. The writer or teller of the story usually has a bias. They will usually tell only the part of the story they agree with and ignore, hide, or smear the facts that do not support their bias. For example, the common graphs that show how much the water table has declined usually start the graph at 1965, the year the aquifer had the most water in it in history. If you start the graph in 1918 instead and compare it to today, the graph looks very different because it shows a more complete set of data. Do other presenters want the reader to know that the aquifer has the same amount of water in it as it did 80 years ago, or would they prefer the reader only see the decline from the peak?
The bottom blue graph shows the total amount of water in the Ogallala aquifer that lays under the Republican River Basin. Note that the top two graphs are exaggerations of the blue graph. The 1965-1997 graph is simply the detail of the area above the red line and to the right of the green line on the blue graph. The 1918-1997 graph is the entire area above the red line on the blue graph. Did you know that even before irrigation wells were
drilled, the water table went both up and down?
Did you know there is more water in the While we try to present all of the facts as neutrally as we can, WaterClaim too has a bias. Before you believe what we publish on our web site, you should try to verify the information. We will warn you that, unfortunately, it is sometimes very hard to find the data. Places that should have the information readily available often do not and will often ignore requests for data. But, if one is persistent, you will discover who has the data & facts and who has only an agenda. The total volume water in the aquifer is our educated estimate. We do not know the official estimate by the policy makers because they have never released or published that number. We know the number exists because it is used to run the computer simulations, but all requests for this number are ignored. One of the most frustrating things on dealing with water issues is the refusal of those in control of policy to provide data that backs up their assertions. One of the good things about this is that, as a result, we have been forced to study the numbers much more closely and to talk to many different people to find out the facts. Because of this, we find that we know the numbers better than most of the policy makers. |
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