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gmatx_gw

Pray for Ogallala Users

gmatx zone 6
9 years ago

Well, I guess the word is out that the Ogallala is nearly pumped dry. It just breaks my heart. I worry so about what our grandchildren and great grandchild will find in future years here in what DH and I have always felt has been a wonderful place to live. But we all know that without water, people and animals cannot continue to live here. I was born in Vega and we live about 38 miles from there. I just wish our High Plains Water District had had the ability to gain the backing of legislators to pass laws much earlier to protect our water. Do farmers get a bad rap on water usage? Yes! Most of the farmers we know are very observant of their water use and conserve it as much as they can. Our farmers do not raise corn around here. But then you have the guy that bought some land, developed it, and called the dammed up draw a "lake" and pumps water almost constantly to keep it full. Advertised fishing, boating, etc when he was selling the high-dollar lots... Yes, there are fish he put in there but it is nothing but a "fake lake". That land use to be a dairy many, many years ago and that dam was put there to create a pasture stock tank, not a "lake". But, the HPWD can't do anything to him and believe you me, many of us have tried to no avail. If they really do get the ability to set and enforce mandatory restrictions by the end of the year, we may have a chance of extending the "run dry" date a little. Another pet peeve - those who move out into the named rural subdivisions and plant a yard that take lots of water instead of using some of the newer Buffalo grass. A couple of the grass varieties looks great.

So folks, pray for all of the Ogallala users, as we may not have much more water to use on crops, yards, gardens, etc. And don't forget, the Ogallala doesn't just supply the Texas Panhandle. We humans can create absolutely catastrophic situations, can't we.

But on a more happy note, here is a picture of our newest Beefalo girl. She was born late afternoon July 4th and her name is Liberty. She was still wet when we drove up in the pasture. Mom's name is Red - yeah, real original. Red is getting a much deserved back rub.

Hope all of you had a good July 4th. Hubby flew in Wed. morning, saw his cardiologist Thur. for his A-fib, and back out today. Says he is retiring in 269 more days. We'll see.

Okay, enough of my gritching and groaning. Heading out to release a few more sweat drops...HAHA.

Mary

Here is a link that might be useful: Breadbasket faces dire water crisis

This post was edited by gmatx on Sun, Jul 6, 14 at 19:35

Comments (6)

  • west_gardener
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh, your story sounds familiar. There are water wars all over the west and it's been going on for a long time. North and South California are in a fight over water at this time. There is talk about farmers vs cities, diverting water from the delta to the south etc...
    Water is our most precious commodity, so it's worth fighting over.
    Congrats on your new Beefalo girl.
    I bet it is stressful living with the uncertainly of what will happen.
    I hope you and your DH will be ok.

  • mawheel
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Mary, in addition to prayers for "Ogallala Users", let's hope and pray that selfish people who are not concerned with the welfare of others, will see the light. We can just hope and pray that it won't be too late for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We may not be here, but if they are, life will be much more difficult than it is now--even though that hardly seems possible.

    What a beautiful little creature your new 'baby' is! "Liberty" is a very fitting name; I'm showing my complete ignorance, but will she eventually turn red like her Mother?

    Thanks for sharing her picture with us.

    My family thinks I'm nuts, b/c I am always preaching "turn off the water"! I can't bear to have it just run down the drain when it's not needed. Brushing one's teeth doesn't need to be done to the sound of running water!

  • don_socal
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Congrats on the new baby. Have read about the Ogallala over the years and worry for all the lives that will be affected by the over use of it. Sad that we are so slow to understand the implications. Hope your fourth was good.

  • lilosophie
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Beautiful Baby - so lovely to see new life.
    Water, oh my! It seems that urban water-users only worry about how high their water-bills are going to be in order to keep a nice, green lawn, while we rural bumpkins are concerned about how much water will be available.
    Joann and I had water-problems last winter and learned to use a composting toilet, so now there is enough water for occasional flushes, but we saved some wood-ash from winter because we may need it for a composting toilet before summer is over.

  • anneliese_32
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The water situation in the West is really worrying. Do planning commisions have really no clue what the impact of their decisions does? I guess money talks there. They don't think about the farmland behind the back fence, after all, they buy their groceries at the store but gripe about the rising prices there.

    Thanks for the picture of your new calf and his mom. It shows that you are taking good care of your animals, otherwise mom would not be so trusting.

  • gmatx zone 6
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    West_gardener, you are ever so correct that water is our most precious commodity. There has to be compromise on all sides as to the use of the water that is available. I just hate it that some want to place all the blame on the farmers for "using too much water". While I really do not like GMOs, I believe we must continue to strive to hybridize food crops that can produce well under reduced water usage. While I love a beautiful yard, I also am able to put sentimental attachment aside to acknowledge the fact that I prefer to have water to drink and to grow something to eat other than grass. We definitely wouldn't be healthy for very long doing that. Residents in the cities do deserve access to adequate water, but the cities need to be willing to set limits. Otherwise, none of us will have water for anything.

    Mwheel, I too hope and pray that people wake up to the fact that selfishness only hurts them in the long run. The world would be such a much nicer and kinder place if we were even 1/10th as concerned about others as we are about ourselves. Liberty will not turn red like her mother. Our Beefalo bull, Adam, is black and Red always throws a black calf from him. Yeah, you sound like me "turn off the water and lights, and close the door". Of course Mother use to always ask me if I forgot that if a door opens it also closes! I was in too big of a hurry to get outside before she could catch me and make me do housework.....

    Don, you would think we would wake up to the fact that some things just don't fix themselves. July 4th was good - hope yours was, also.

    Lilo, I remember you mentioning the composting toilet last year. Sure hope your water holds up where you won't need it, but if you do, at least you aren't just going to sit and wring your hands and cry "Oh, me". You and Joann are definitely survivors and I admire the two of you!

    Anneliese, how is your DH doing? Hope you are getting some rest, too. As to your question about planning commissions, out here in the country in the State of Texas there are no planning commissions. Our county has very few restrictions on properties outside the city limits. No hog farms and wrecking yards must be fenced where the vehicles cannot be seen from the road are the two biggest restrictions. I think that what irritates me the most about people wrongly stating that we are running out of water because the farmers are using it up growing corn is....drum roll....we don't raise corn here!! I think last year our county had less than 2000 acres in corn. The corn raisers are up north, and most of their irrigation water comes from the sky and rivers. I have seen some beautiful corn and soybean crops in Nebraska and Iowa and nary an irrigation well in sight. Hummm

    Well, Miss Liberty was a real stinker last night. About 9:30 I got a call from our neighbor down on the west end of the section asking if we were missing a young calf. Said there was one standing at her yard fence looking at the dogs. So, got clothes back on and was down there within 5 minutes. We could not find her! Walked about a quarter of the section out and we were all eaten up by mosquitoes. During all this, oldest son and his wife were out in the center pasture because they thought Liberty was with Mama Blue, but it turned out that Mama had just had a calf. This morning prissy Miss Liberty was back in the pasture with that innocent look of "you were looking for me?". I've got to drop the hot wire fence down a few inches. They never run off, but they don't need to be outside of the pasture either.

    Well, I've written a book so guess I had better finish up some projects I started this morning. Took a break from the heat, but can only do that for so long.

    Mary

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