If Kansas farmers continue irrigating as they are for the next half-century, 70% of the Ogallala Aquifer will be drained.

That’s according to Susan Metzger,  director of the Kansas Water Institute. Given this, water conservation is at a serious crossroads for agriculture in the state.  

“We treat it in Kansas with a great sense of urgency,” Metzger says, highlighting the success of the Local Enhanced Management Areas. The LEMAs set five-year irrigation allotments.

Four LEMAs are active in Kansas, including Sheridan 6, which is “a poster child of success for a number of reasons, the principal being that I believe local solutions have the largest long-term possibility of success,” Metzger says. “That’s a key thing: Giving locals policy tools to make their own water management decisions.”

Earl Lewis, chief engineer and director of the Division of Water Resources at the Kansas Department of Agriculture, says it’s impossible to paint irrigation with a broad brush. Every region is different. The aquifer is uneven.

“We have areas that have a lot less and areas that have a lot. It varies north to south, east to west,” he says. “We are encouraged by the success we have seen in some of these LEMAS, especially Sheridan County and Wichita County. Those two are the most successful.”

Related:Generations of grit: How a Kansas community preserved its future

Notably, restrictions aren’t the only way Kansas is reducing irrigated water usage.

“We also have been providing extensive cost share so producers can make changes in their technology,” Metzger says. These cost-share programs, offered through the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Conservation, enable farmers to invest in water-saving advancements like “autonomous pivots, soil moisture probes, all of those tools.”

There’s also funding available from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and local groundwater management districts.

It’s not just the aquifer that’s benefiting from the state’s initiatives. With about 2 million irrigated acres, agriculture accounts for about 14% of Kansas’ gross regional product. Sustaining the aquifer isn’t just an agricultural concern, it’s an economic one. And to that end, the LEMA system is sustainable.

“As long as we don’t move too quickly and don’t take drastic action overnight, the economy adjusts,” Lewis says.

It’s been a slow process, but Lewis says he’s optimistic that Kansas’ efforts are working. The future looks good.

“We’re still in a declining situation, but it’s not declining as fast. The usable lifespan of the aquifer has been extended,” he says. “Once producers understand the rules, a lot of times, they will exceed what the goal was.”

Related:Conserving Ogallala Aquifer: What Kansas farmers are doing right