Adapting and creating a new water future. That is the topic of discussion over the next few days as the Ogallala Aquifer virtual summit gets underway.
The event will tackle issues faced by the Great Plains communities that rely on the declining aquifer. The summit provides producers and water management leaders an opportunity to network. John Tracy from the Texas Water Resources Institute says that we need to realize change is happening in the aquifer.
It is not a problem to be solved, rather a situation to be managed.
According to Tracy, “While this summit will have many goals and outcome, one of the most important activities will be looking at how we forward this dialog that identifies critical information gaps and knowledge needs in the individual communities to basically get everyone to think about, ‘we’re managing the situation, not solving the problem’ and that’s our role in this.”
Although shallow, the Ogallala is one of the world’s largest aquifers, covering 175,000 square miles in eight states. The summit continues tomorrow.