It’s a relatively simple concept: when demand outpaces supply eventually the supply runs out unless it is replenished. Yet, when you apply this concept to the existence of water resources things can get a bit worrisome.That is the challenge facing Dean Pennington, executive director, Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Water Management District. An article by Chris Bennett in the Delta Farm Press highlights the challenges facing Pennington. At the Agronomic Crops Field Day at the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, MS, Pennington told those gathered that:
[W]hen you have a very useful, natural resource like water, that plays a major roll [sic] in how your production works in an area, you begin to use that natural resource to produce economic value . . . More people see the value; more people want to use the resource, and eventually in most cases you finally reach the point where the demand for the resource exceeds the supply. That’s where the Mississippi Delta is now.
This is not very good news for the farmers working the 2 million acres of irrigated land in the Delta. Currently, farmers pump water from an alluvial aquifer that sits below the clay deposit in the Delta. Water is pumped from the aquifer on top of the clay to irrigate crops. The aquifer is resupplied by the Mississippi River and water from the bluffs and hills to the east of the aquifer.
Yet, despite the fact that the Mississippi River flows at a rate of 100,000 cubic feet per second, this is not enough to resupply the aquifer based on the current demand for water from the aquifer. It currently takes 1.5 million acre feet of water to irrigate the 2 million acres being worked. However, the aquifer is only refilled through natural means to the tune of 1.2 million acre feet. Thus, there is 300,000 acre feet deficit.
Pennington notes that this deficit exists because essentially everyone who has a groundwater well in the Delta is relying on the aquifer for water. 75% of the water use permits issued by Mississippi are in the Delta. However, Pennington points out that if the 300,000 acre feet deficit can somehow be eliminated by either finding different water sources, or by reducing the amount of water taken out of the aquifer by that number, then the Delta region would have a sustainable water supply for possibly 50 years to 100 years from today.
While the central Delta might be affected first by the overuse of the aquifer, Pennington feels others share the responsibility to fix the problem along with those who live in or farm in the central Delta. Pennington states in the Delta Farm Press story that:
Yet, despite the fact that the Mississippi River flows at a rate of 100,000 cubic feet per second, this is not enough to resupply the aquifer based on the current demand for water from the aquifer. It currently takes 1.5 million acre feet of water to irrigate the 2 million acres being worked. However, the aquifer is only refilled through natural means to the tune of 1.2 million acre feet. Thus, there is 300,000 acre feet deficit.
Pennington notes that this deficit exists because essentially everyone who has a groundwater well in the Delta is relying on the aquifer for water. 75% of the water use permits issued by Mississippi are in the Delta. However, Pennington points out that if the 300,000 acre feet deficit can somehow be eliminated by either finding different water sources, or by reducing the amount of water taken out of the aquifer by that number, then the Delta region would have a sustainable water supply for possibly 50 years to 100 years from today.
While the central Delta might be affected first by the overuse of the aquifer, Pennington feels others share the responsibility to fix the problem along with those who live in or farm in the central Delta. Pennington states in the Delta Farm Press story that:
The problem of running out of water in the short-term is in the central Delta, but we don’t view this as just a central Delta problem. Water runs downhill and as water recharges the Mississippi River or the bluff hills and flows toward the central Delta, everybody who takes some of that water out of the systems is contributing to the problem of using more water than our recharge. Therefore, everyone needs to be part of the solution to balancing our water budget[.]
There are several potential long-term solutions to the problem, but one must gain traction from the stakeholders if the problem is to be addressed quickly. To see some potential solutions, to learn more about the issue, or to read the Delta Farm Press article click here.
Posted: 08/11/09
