The Ogallala, Page Two
Did You Know?
New Mexico State Engineer's Report 99-2 states: “Actually, concentrated pumping in Curry and Roosevelt Counties in New Mexico as well as Bailey County in Texas will de-water large portions of the most productive areas of the basin as early as the year 2010.”
What About Irrigated Farmland’s
Impact on the Aquifer?
Here are a few irrigated sections in western Curry County, New Mexico.
1995 Depletion of the Ogallala
In 1995, Domestic Wells in Curry County withdrew 248 acre-feet of water from the Ogallala.That same year, Irrigated Agriculture withdrew 245,049 acre-feet, or almost 1,000 times the annual self-supplied domestic use of water.
An acre-foot is the amount of water it takes to cover one acre of land with water to a depth of one foot.
1.0 acre foot = 325,851 gallonsSo, for self-supplied domestic use, Curry County residents used eighty million, eight hundred and eleven thousand, and forty-eight gallons of water (80,811,048) in 1995. And, also in 1995, Curry County’s irrigators used an additional 79.8 BILLION gallons (79,849,461,699) of water. So, do the math: if we preserve one year's worth of agricultural water use, we are, in theory, conserving enough water for current self-supplied domestic use for 1,000 years!
How Serious Is the Water Situation?
EXTREMELY SERIOUS. Water Levels are dropping at an alarming rate.
No Action = Bleak Future
Report 99-2 from the Technical Division, Hydrology Bureau, New Mexico Office of the State Engineer specifically studied projected water flows in Curry and Roosevelt Counties of New Mexico under CURRENT WITHDRAWAL RATES as of March 1999. This was before many of the current dairies in Curry County were drawing water from the Ogallala. The conclusions are truly frightening.
The Report’s Conclusions:
“Actually, concentrated pumping in Curry and Roosevelt Counties in New Mexico as well as Bailey County in Texas will de-water large portions of the most productive areas of the basin as early as the year 2010.”
“Parts of the basin where the remaining 1990 saturated thickness is less than 50 feet will not sustain continued pumping beyond the year 2000 or 2010.”
Notice that most of Curry and Roosevelt Counties are in the yellow areas, or areas of saturated thickness of 0 to 50 feet. Many areas of Curry and Roosevelt Counties are in dotted black areas, or areas that are already dewatered.
The Hydrology Report Continues: “Thus, with the current remaining saturated thickness of less than 100 feet in most areas, the Ogallala Formation will not sustain the current production rates to the year 2040. De-watered areas will increase to cover large portions of Curry and Roosevelt Counties in New Mexico and most of Bailey and Parmer Counties in Texas. HOWEVER, it should be mentioned that these projections are based on the estimated withdrawal rates for current conditions. In New Mexico, these rates are approximately 79% of the permitted water rights in the basin.”
So, it follows that if water consumption rises, the decline of the water table will be accelerated, and parts of Curry County will be de-watered well before 2010.
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