Ogallala Aquifer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Ogallala Aquifer - Assignment Example This has resulted to unfavorable economic realities which include reduced agricultural production, reduced revenue, lower tax revenues and also a reduction in the availability of community services (Kabbes 84). Reduced agricultural production can be attributed to increased irrigation cost as a result of the decline in the water levels of the Aquifer. Pumping the reduced water level is capital-intensive bearing in mind that the farmers in the region depend on natural gas to pump water. This, therefore, has increased the cost of irrigation. The increased cost of irrigation as a result of the declining water level has resulted to small profit margins for the Texas Panhandle producers (Kabbes 84). As a result of the decreased profits in agricultural production in the Texas Panhandle region, farmers have opted to practice non-irrigated farming, conservation tillage, precision irrigation systems, as well as different crop selection. They have adopted an alternative of cotton farming since it requires less water. This has had a positive impact since cotton farming has turned out to be profitable, from the fact that it requires far less irrigation water as compared to corn and alfalfa. The reduced production costs have produced an increased economic return, leading to an increase in the acreage for cotton (Kabbes 85). Reduced groundwater has also resulted in a decrease in the economic activities members of the public engage in. With increased cost of production, a number of farmers have been pushed out of the farming business, rendering them jobless. This has created a double effect of them having to rely on the working group, meaning limited contribution in the economy. The reduction in the water levels of the Aquifer has also produced environmental impacts, with the most prominent one being land subsidence. The intensity of increased water pumping has resulted in land subsidence of vast areas. The land subsidence can permanently reduce the aquifer’s storage