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External effects of irrigators' pumping decisions, high plains aquifer
Author(s) -
Alley William M.,
Schefter John E.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr023i007p01123
Subject(s) - aquifer , groundwater , square (algebra) , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , agriculture , scale (ratio) , mile , water resource management , geography , geology , geotechnical engineering , mathematics , geometry , archaeology , cartography , geodesy
The High Plains aquifer, which underlies about 174,000 square miles (1 square mile = 2.59 km 2 ) in the Great Plains, is the principal source of water in one of the nation's major agricultural areas. This paper examines relationships between the scale of management areas and physical factors, resulting from the lateral movement of groundwater, that limit the ability of irrigators in the High Plains to reduce their own future pumping lifts. At the scale of individual farms, irrigators have very limited ability to “bank” water in order to obtain reduced future pumping lifts. On the other hand, at the scales typical of regional management, reductions in pumpage will result primarily in reductions in water level declines within the management area.