The Historically Evolving Impact of the Ogallala Aquifer: Agricultural Adaptation to Groundwater and Drought | Zendy

Richard Hornbeck | Zendy; Pinar Keskin | Zendy

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The Historically Evolving Impact of the Ogallala Aquifer: Agricultural Adaptation to Groundwater and Drought

Author(s) -

Richard Hornbeck,

Pinar Keskin

Publication year - 2013

Publication title -

american economic journal applied economics

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 12.996

H-Index - 82

eISSN - 1945-7782

pISSN - 1945-7790

DOI - 10.1257/app.6.1.190

Subject(s) - aquifer , groundwater , agriculture , water resource management , environmental science , irrigation , water scarcity , scarcity , adaptation (eye) , hydrology (agriculture) , geography , geology , ecology , physics , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , optics , microeconomics , economics , biology

Agriculture on the American Plains has been constrained historically by water scarcity. Post-WWII technologies enabled farmers over the Ogallala aquifer to extract groundwater for large-scale irrigation. Comparing counties over the Ogallala with nearby similar counties, groundwater access increased agricultural land values and initially reduced the impact of droughts. Over time, land use adjusted toward water intensive crops and drought sensitivity increased. Viewed differently, farmers in nearby water-scarce areas maintained lowervalue drought-resistant practices that fully mitigate naturally higher drought sensitivity. The evolving impact of the Ogallala illustrates the importance of water for agricultural production, but also the large scope for agricultural adaptation to groundwater and drought.

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