Let’s flip the conversation and look at the land changes that have dried the land which changes the climate. We have removed vegetation and soil, replaced with hard surfaces. Annual rainfall has not changef, just the ferocity of storms, damaging floods and stormwater runoff. Urban heat islands warm the air, making it thirsty as it expands. This has drawn, over 25 years, a volume of water from the land about the size of Lake Erie into the atmosphere. More water vapor, a greenhouse gas, hokds more energy in the atmosphere. Trees release water vapor and organic particles ( fungi and bacteria) into the air. Water nucleates around organic particles to form clouds. When water vapor turns to liquid there is an exothermic reaction and drop in air pressure that in turn draws in more air. In the Amazon moist air is drawn in off the ocean. Trees of the Amazon are drawing water to create the largest river in the world. Restoring water to the land, strengthening local water cycles, is turning the tables. Welcome to the Earth Rehydration Revolution.
regarding your and my comments, it appears that any flow in the nebraska aquifer is downslope, west to east, some 30’ a day. not north to south as i thought i had learned. see:
Groundwater: How the High Plains Aquifer Shapes the Sandhills
And there is the PFAS contamination of the Ogllala aquifer as well.
"The toxic plume is spreading slowly and inexorably – not only under Schaap’s fields but across the Ogallala Aquifer, the largest aquifer in the nation, which spans 174,000 miles and parts of eight states."
Oof. But of course there is. It's ubiquitous. Someday (if not today, for some reason) we'll look back on the PFAS pollution age as a colossal failure to regulate.
Jason: EXCELLENT article on water. For some reason, I have been under the impression that very slowly, water in the Ogalalla drifts south. IF this is true, will the medium and dark blue areas of the aquifer in central Nebraska that have "gained depth" help replenish the much harder hit orange and orange-red areas of the aquifer to the south. Or did I just learn something faulty?
Thanks very much, Gregg. I have no idea about the possibility of some of the Ogallala drifting south. That's beyond my research. Interesting if true, though. Please let me know what you find out. I wonder, though, given the current rate of withdrawal in the red areas if it would matter very much.
When I was a child, my grandparents lived in a tiney house with no running water or bathroom. Every morning, my grandfather would pump 2 pails of water from the well and bring them into the house for the day's drinking and cooking requirements. Rain was captured in a cistern which furnished the water for laundry and washing dishes. A small basin held water to wash our hands in, and was used several times before emptying it out on the garden or the grass in the backyard (No amount of grace could call it a lawn). In our own rural home, we had a bathroom but didn't flush unless it was absolutely necessary, and my mother did laundry for 10 people in a wringer washer and rinsed it in a washtub. Those thrifty habits got ingrained into me, and I've always tried to conserve where I could. (I must confess, though, I flush more often than Mother would approve.)
What a wonderful description of that time, Virginia. Thank you. I read it to my mother who grew up in a similar situation here on the Maine coast. Interestingly, the hand dug well provided much better water than the drilled well put in many years later. I do wish we were all fairly frugal with our water usage, but really (as I understand it) it's agriculture that's having the most profound impact on aquifers.
Yes, it's funny but that is the best water I've ever tasted. And you're right about agriculture, although the term is so bastardized now it isn't accurate. It's ludicrous that someone with a thousand acres and a few tons of machinery can barely produce more than someone with a hundred acres and a small tractor with a few attachments. I'd like to see more people witha small garden in their backyard, growing intensively.
It is one of those big stories that feel too large to help with, Sara, but there are ways to encourage the shift to regenerative farming, either by supporting local farmers doing it the right way or keeping an eye out for organizations and legislation that are pushing bigger levers. And spreading the word. That's all I'm doing. Thanks for being here.
Back in 2022, we were down at Chatham, Mass., on Cape Cod. A good part of the Cape was facing water shortages not just because of the lack of rain; the single fresh water aquifer that supplies the Cape was showing signs of not being able to keep up with the demands placed on it by increased population, tourism, and out-of-town second, third or fourth-home owners with sprawling lawns the "demanded" an emerald sheen. At the time, Chatham was under a mandatory water conservation rule with attendant fines for violations of the water restrictions. Yet, there was a visible divide between those who obeyed the rules and those who violated them. I took at photo of the small park at Oyster Pond. The grass in the park area was withered and brown; across the street, though, a plush estate was surrounded by lush, green grass. In the middle of the photo was a municipal sign with the message "Mandatory Water Conservation in Effect."
One morning, I spoke to some landscapers who were taking a break from pruning and mowing, and I asked, "Why are some lawns obviously distressed while others look picture perfect?" They confessed that wealthier folks could easily afford the fines that came with regularly watering their lawns. (It's almost has if they were thinking that, because their investment accounts were so green, their lawns should be, too.) I did see one ritzy place doing a little "virtue signaling," having put up a small sign in its yard stating "Lawn watered from private wells." I don't think the aquifer was impressed.
Yikes, Bruce. The aquifer was not impressed, indeed. Just like atmospheric physics and ocean currents aren't impressed by our political opinions about climate work... Sounds like Chatham needs a bigger fine-and-shame policy.
Thanks for the numbers, Mike. The crazy thing is that as wasteful as we can all be with our household usage, in general the main issue is still agriculture. Not that some areas aren't severely hit by residential and personal use, esp. in the face of intensified heat and drought, but how we eat and how we farm is where we're thirstiest.
As messy and wasteful as they may be, my sense is that they won't approach the scale of water use/waste of agriculture. But to place them in hot, dry, water-starved places is nutty.
This is excellent, and very much the other half of what I wrote yesterday (thanks for the link!), except I certainly couldn't write this because I don't have your wealth of knowledge on the subject. Agreed - as you laid out here, just "finding more water" is as short-sighted as finding more fossil fuels, and what's really needed is a huge infrastructural overhaul (and even a new philosophical approach) in how we use and conserve it - which would be needed anyway, even without the water shortages, because of the way tech companies are currently trampling over existing water distribution agreements so massively in order to fuel their profit-making machines.
Thanks, Mike. I was fascinated to see what you had unveiled about possible offshore freshwater reserves (what a strange concept). I have a habit of thinking about logistics (probably the Antarctican in me), so immediately thought about the How of it. I'm not crazy about the idea of bottling up (so to speak) future supply in the hands of profit seeking companies running pipelines from the continental shelf to Peoria... But neither of us will be surprised if it comes to that, esp. when too little is being done to safeguard the water we have. I forget where I read it, but the US needs a federal Dept. of Water just to focus on all of the aspects of a very complicated water future that's arriving now. And similar attention at local and international levels.
Lack of trust is the least of it, I'm afraid. The regulatory agencies are now largely weaponized against the idea of regulation and corporate responsibility.
Let’s flip the conversation and look at the land changes that have dried the land which changes the climate. We have removed vegetation and soil, replaced with hard surfaces. Annual rainfall has not changef, just the ferocity of storms, damaging floods and stormwater runoff. Urban heat islands warm the air, making it thirsty as it expands. This has drawn, over 25 years, a volume of water from the land about the size of Lake Erie into the atmosphere. More water vapor, a greenhouse gas, hokds more energy in the atmosphere. Trees release water vapor and organic particles ( fungi and bacteria) into the air. Water nucleates around organic particles to form clouds. When water vapor turns to liquid there is an exothermic reaction and drop in air pressure that in turn draws in more air. In the Amazon moist air is drawn in off the ocean. Trees of the Amazon are drawing water to create the largest river in the world. Restoring water to the land, strengthening local water cycles, is turning the tables. Welcome to the Earth Rehydration Revolution.
regarding your and my comments, it appears that any flow in the nebraska aquifer is downslope, west to east, some 30’ a day. not north to south as i thought i had learned. see:
Groundwater: How the High Plains Aquifer Shapes the Sandhills
by Erin Haacker
October 23, 2024
thanks!
Excellent. Thank you.
And there is the PFAS contamination of the Ogllala aquifer as well.
"The toxic plume is spreading slowly and inexorably – not only under Schaap’s fields but across the Ogallala Aquifer, the largest aquifer in the nation, which spans 174,000 miles and parts of eight states."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/20/new-mexico-contamination-dairy-industry-pollution
Oof. But of course there is. It's ubiquitous. Someday (if not today, for some reason) we'll look back on the PFAS pollution age as a colossal failure to regulate.
Jason: EXCELLENT article on water. For some reason, I have been under the impression that very slowly, water in the Ogalalla drifts south. IF this is true, will the medium and dark blue areas of the aquifer in central Nebraska that have "gained depth" help replenish the much harder hit orange and orange-red areas of the aquifer to the south. Or did I just learn something faulty?
Thanks very much, Gregg. I have no idea about the possibility of some of the Ogallala drifting south. That's beyond my research. Interesting if true, though. Please let me know what you find out. I wonder, though, given the current rate of withdrawal in the red areas if it would matter very much.
When I was a child, my grandparents lived in a tiney house with no running water or bathroom. Every morning, my grandfather would pump 2 pails of water from the well and bring them into the house for the day's drinking and cooking requirements. Rain was captured in a cistern which furnished the water for laundry and washing dishes. A small basin held water to wash our hands in, and was used several times before emptying it out on the garden or the grass in the backyard (No amount of grace could call it a lawn). In our own rural home, we had a bathroom but didn't flush unless it was absolutely necessary, and my mother did laundry for 10 people in a wringer washer and rinsed it in a washtub. Those thrifty habits got ingrained into me, and I've always tried to conserve where I could. (I must confess, though, I flush more often than Mother would approve.)
What a wonderful description of that time, Virginia. Thank you. I read it to my mother who grew up in a similar situation here on the Maine coast. Interestingly, the hand dug well provided much better water than the drilled well put in many years later. I do wish we were all fairly frugal with our water usage, but really (as I understand it) it's agriculture that's having the most profound impact on aquifers.
Yes, it's funny but that is the best water I've ever tasted. And you're right about agriculture, although the term is so bastardized now it isn't accurate. It's ludicrous that someone with a thousand acres and a few tons of machinery can barely produce more than someone with a hundred acres and a small tractor with a few attachments. I'd like to see more people witha small garden in their backyard, growing intensively.
Wow… thank you. It’s tough information to process about something I feel I cannot influence in any way… except my own decision-making, I suppose.
It is one of those big stories that feel too large to help with, Sara, but there are ways to encourage the shift to regenerative farming, either by supporting local farmers doing it the right way or keeping an eye out for organizations and legislation that are pushing bigger levers. And spreading the word. That's all I'm doing. Thanks for being here.
Back in 2022, we were down at Chatham, Mass., on Cape Cod. A good part of the Cape was facing water shortages not just because of the lack of rain; the single fresh water aquifer that supplies the Cape was showing signs of not being able to keep up with the demands placed on it by increased population, tourism, and out-of-town second, third or fourth-home owners with sprawling lawns the "demanded" an emerald sheen. At the time, Chatham was under a mandatory water conservation rule with attendant fines for violations of the water restrictions. Yet, there was a visible divide between those who obeyed the rules and those who violated them. I took at photo of the small park at Oyster Pond. The grass in the park area was withered and brown; across the street, though, a plush estate was surrounded by lush, green grass. In the middle of the photo was a municipal sign with the message "Mandatory Water Conservation in Effect."
One morning, I spoke to some landscapers who were taking a break from pruning and mowing, and I asked, "Why are some lawns obviously distressed while others look picture perfect?" They confessed that wealthier folks could easily afford the fines that came with regularly watering their lawns. (It's almost has if they were thinking that, because their investment accounts were so green, their lawns should be, too.) I did see one ritzy place doing a little "virtue signaling," having put up a small sign in its yard stating "Lawn watered from private wells." I don't think the aquifer was impressed.
Yikes, Bruce. The aquifer was not impressed, indeed. Just like atmospheric physics and ocean currents aren't impressed by our political opinions about climate work... Sounds like Chatham needs a bigger fine-and-shame policy.
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
We can live without food - Healthline says 8 - 21 days
How long can we live without water - MedicalNewsToday says - 3 days
So we trade water for food and then we waste - USDA says 30 - 40%
EPA says - The average family can waste 180 gallons per week, or 9,400 gallons of water annually, from household leaks.
Your essay is essential - thank you. Now if we could get some leaders to read it and take action.
Thanks for the numbers, Mike. The crazy thing is that as wasteful as we can all be with our household usage, in general the main issue is still agriculture. Not that some areas aren't severely hit by residential and personal use, esp. in the face of intensified heat and drought, but how we eat and how we farm is where we're thirstiest.
It (the issue) will soon be about AI data centers...
As messy and wasteful as they may be, my sense is that they won't approach the scale of water use/waste of agriculture. But to place them in hot, dry, water-starved places is nutty.
Everything is about water, truly.
Indeed, and ever more so as the temperature rises.
Great article! Thank you for the work you do.
Thank you, Rebecca.
Excellent reporting of a critical issue. Thank you.
Thanks, Leah. I just scratched the surface here, but there's plenty to consider, isn't there?
This is excellent, and very much the other half of what I wrote yesterday (thanks for the link!), except I certainly couldn't write this because I don't have your wealth of knowledge on the subject. Agreed - as you laid out here, just "finding more water" is as short-sighted as finding more fossil fuels, and what's really needed is a huge infrastructural overhaul (and even a new philosophical approach) in how we use and conserve it - which would be needed anyway, even without the water shortages, because of the way tech companies are currently trampling over existing water distribution agreements so massively in order to fuel their profit-making machines.
Thanks, Mike. I was fascinated to see what you had unveiled about possible offshore freshwater reserves (what a strange concept). I have a habit of thinking about logistics (probably the Antarctican in me), so immediately thought about the How of it. I'm not crazy about the idea of bottling up (so to speak) future supply in the hands of profit seeking companies running pipelines from the continental shelf to Peoria... But neither of us will be surprised if it comes to that, esp. when too little is being done to safeguard the water we have. I forget where I read it, but the US needs a federal Dept. of Water just to focus on all of the aspects of a very complicated water future that's arriving now. And similar attention at local and international levels.
If we could trust the Feds, which currently we can't
Lack of trust is the least of it, I'm afraid. The regulatory agencies are now largely weaponized against the idea of regulation and corporate responsibility.