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- Title
Agronomic Water Mass Balance vs. Well Measurement for Assessing Ogallala Aquifer Depletion in the Texas Panhandle.
- Authors
Ouapo, Constant Z.; Stewart, B.A.; DeOtte, Robert E.
- Abstract
The Ogallala Aquifer is depleting faster than it is being replenished. Interpretation of well data suggests that the water table in some counties is not declining, or not as much as might be expected in view of the amount of land being irrigated. As the Ogallala Aquifer in the Texas Panhandle receives almost no recharge, a possible explanation is that the current method of using well data for estimating the quantity of water remaining in the aquifer is underestimating water in storage. This study used an agronomic water mass balance approach to estimate how much water has been used for irrigation compared to amounts estimated by well data. The major finding was in counties where irrigation well capacities have declined significantly but irrigation is continuing, there is likely more water in storage than presently estimated, but the amounts of water being used for irrigation in those counties are greater than estimated changes of water in storage. The proposed hypothesis for this difference is there are mounds of water between wells that are not being accounted for and data are presented and discussed to support this conjecture.
- Subjects
TEXAS Panhandle (Tex.); WATER masses; IRRIGATION; WATER storage; WELLS; OGALLALA Aquifer; MANAGEMENT
- Publication
Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 2014, Vol 50, Issue 2, p483
- ISSN
1093-474X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/jawr.12134