Affiliation:
1. U.S. Geological Survey
Denver, Colorado, 80225, USA
Abstract
AbstractThe High Plains Aquifer, located in the United States, is one of the largest freshwater aquifers in the world and is threatened by continued decline in water levels and deteriorating water quality. Understanding the physical and cultural features of this area is essential to assessing the factors that affect this groundwater resource. About 270f the irrigated land in the United States overlies this aquifer, which yields about 300f the nation’s groundwater used for irrigation of crops including wheat, corn, sorghum, cotton and alfalfa. In addition, the aquifer provides drinking water to 820f the 2.3 million people who live within the aquifer boundary. The High Plains Aquifer has been significantly impacted by human activities. Groundwater withdrawals from the aquifer exceed recharge in many areas, resulting in substantial declines in groundwater level. Residents once believed that the aquifer was an unlimited resource of high-quality water, but they now face the prospect that much of the water may be gone in the near future. Also, agricultural chemicals are affecting the groundwater quality. Increasing concentrations of nitrate and salinity can first impair the use of the water for public supply and then affect its suitability for irrigation. A variety of technical and institutional measures are currently being planned and implemented across the aquifer area in an attempt to sustain this groundwater resource for future generations. However, because groundwater withdrawals remain high and water quality impairments are becoming more commonplace, the sustainability of the High Plains Aquifer is uncertain.
Publisher
Geological Society of London
Subject
Geology,Ocean Engineering,Water Science and Technology
Reference47 articles.
1. Cast (1996) Future of irrigated agriculture, Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, Task Force Report (4420 West Lincoln Way, Ames, IA 50014-3447), No. 127.
2. Daly C. Taylor G. (1998) 1961–90 Mean monthly precipitation maps for the conterminous United States. World Wide Web Address: http://www.ocs.orst.edu/prism/state_products/cent_maps.html .
3. Dennehy K. F. (2000) High Plains Regional Ground-Water Study, United States Geological Survey Fact Sheet, 091–00.
4. Doesken N. J. (1998) Ogallala Aquifer Symposium Proceedings High Plains water and weather impacts, ed Al-Kaisi M. (Sterling, Colorado), pp 57–63.
Cited by
55 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献