The Ogallala Aquifer, a water source of porous rock and sediment bed under farmland, cities and small towns from South Dakota to Texas, is in crisis.
The Ogallala Aquifer provides irrigation for 30% of all farmland in the U.S., including western Oklahoma. According to water and irrigation specialists with Oklahoma State University Agriculture, the aquifer has steadily declined since irrigation began in the 1930s, and some of its most productive areas are estimated to be depleted in mere decades.
“Studies suggest that about a third of the southern portion of this aquifer cannot sustain economic pumping rates to support irrigated agriculture for more than 30 years,” Kevin Wagner, director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Center at OSU.
An opportunity for education
OSU Extension offers programming on responsible irrigation practices that promote water conservation.
Researchers in the OSU Ferguson College of Agriculture regularly collaborate with OSU Extension experts to educate rural and urban residents on the importance of statewide water conservation. For agricultural producers in western Oklahoma, that often involves understanding the fragile state of the Ogallala Aquifer and improving irrigation practices through water usage sensors and other pumping technology.
As a doctoral student in the OSU Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Sumon Datta studied ways to increase agricultural sustainability and promote water security. Now, as an assistant professor in the same department, he researches using in-situ sensors, models and satellite products to conserve water in the Oklahoma Panhandle. He and other OSU researchers, including Wagner, Sumit Sharma, Dayton Lambert, Lixia Lambert, and Michael Long, are collaborating with Kansas State University, Texas Tech University and NASA to study the effectiveness of a water management tool.
“The technology informs how much water is used at a field, which can be traced back to the aquifer’s activity since 2007,” Datta said. “We can track how farming practices have changed over time; declining pumping rates over the years have led to producers switching to more drought-resistant crops.”
The project will offer a technology demonstration hub in each of the three states on in-situ and remote sensors that can measure the amount of water in crops and soil and how much water is needed for irrigation. Also, the tri-state study will team up with 15 producers in each state to install rain gauges and soil moisture sensors in their fields. Datta and the other scientists will teach them how to schedule irrigation with the satellite and ground-based sensors, which can be viewed on their phones.
“Growers in the region are very progressive,” Datta said. “They know the aquifer levels are dropping. Twenty years ago, they had one well to irrigate a quarter section, but nowadays, in many fields, they have multiple wells supplying water to the same field.”
Jason Warren, OSU Extension assistant director and state program leader for agriculture, natural resources and community economic development, held a previous Extension role involving projects to increase water use efficiency in rain-fed and irrigated crop production systems. His research included overhead pivot irrigation systems and high-efficiency irrigation management.
“Studying crop genetics and water management, we’ve worked with producers to maximize water productivity,” Warren said. “Producers already irrigate at a deficit most of the time, meaning they are not fully replacing all the water that the crop is using. With new technology and crop varieties, we can help them determine when to irrigate and how much water to use throughout the season to optimize crop growth and production. Essentially, we help them understand when to turn the water off and still maintain yield capacity before the soil dries.
“In the 1990s, we expected to grow 200- to 250-bushel corn on good circles, and now we can grow 250- to 300-bushel corn using much less water,” Warren added.
OSU Extension specialists have encouraged producers to diversify into cotton. As a crop, cotton carries a higher level of risk, but its water productivity is higher than that of corn.
Necessity breeds invention
The Testing Ag Performance Solutions, or TAPS, program is another way OSU Extension is improving water-use management in corn production. Producers who participate in the program can try out research-based technologies at OSU Ag Research sites in the Oklahoma panhandle before investing in similar systems.
“TAPS is a competition supported by Extension and OSU Ag Research where producers use new technologies to achieve the highest profitability, input-use efficiency, and grain yield,” said Sharma, OSU Extension specialist for high plains irrigation and water management. “TAPS provides a low-risk environment for producers to try new technologies and learn how their management decisions impact profitability and efficiency.”
Sharma and other OSU researchers are also studying crop response to limited well capacity by determining if a profitable crop is possible with reduced water use through different hybrid varieties of corn. Other test plots in the panhandle will determine if reducing corn seeding rates and nitrogen application will reduce input costs and irrigation requirements while maintaining at least some profit.
Field day demonstrations draw in producers from the panhandle each year to learn the latest in aquifer irrigation strategies. The Master Irrigator program, offered through OSU Extension, also offers education to producers who want to learn more about effective water use.
For $100, producers can sign up for four weekly sessions that involve classroom training, networking with other farmers, Environmental Quality Incentives Program points and free services like energy audits of irrigation pumps. OSU Extension specialists, economists, producers, crop consultants and representatives from the Natural Resource Conservation Service discuss the latest irrigation techniques and technology, including soil moisture sensors, crop irrigation scheduling models and other infrastructure upgrades.
Graduates of the Master Irrigator program earn a $2,000 credit for smart irrigation technology in their fields and also qualify for free well evaluations by Scott Frazier, OSU Extension energy management specialist. Producers learn simple changes or upgrades to their irrigation systems that could save them money and boost their crop yields.
Mark DeLeon, a first-generation cotton, cattle and peanut producer in Beckham County, prioritizes water conservation and is a member of the North Fork Red River Conservation District. His irrigated farmland pumps water from the North Fork Red River Basin, but he understands the importance of saving the Ogallala Aquifer for his children and grandchildren. He graduated from the Master Irrigator program earlier this year.
“My biggest takeaway was learning about flow meters,” DeLeon said. “Moisture sensors and moisture probes are great tools that you need to use, but the flow meter was the biggest water saver because it made me more aware of how many gallons I was pumping and how many gallons per minute I was pumping.”
He encourages producers in his area to make time for Extension opportunities like Master Irrigator training.
“The program has a lot of good presenters, and what you thought might be the way to do things may not be. I appreciate everybody who helps put on the event, and it’s made my operation better.”
To learn more about the OSU Extension Master Irrigator program, contact Sharma at sumit.sharma@okstate.edu.
OSU Extension uses research-based information to help all Oklahomans solve local issues and concerns, promote leadership and manage resources wisely throughout the state’s 77 counties. Most information is available at little to no cost.
