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Posts Tagged ‘Water’

Southeast Kansas Town is Almost Out of Water, and Signs of Crisis are Everywhere

By | October 30, 2023 | 0
Water levels in the Little Caney River are so low that the river isn’t flowing over the dam, leaving the stream dry.

The stubborn drought has brought Caney, a southeast Kansas town of less than 2,000 people, within weeks of reaching the end of its water supply.

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As Ogallala Aquifer Declines in the Great Plains, States Weigh Metering Irrigation Wells

By | October 17, 2023 | 0
A water tower in Guymon, Oklahoma, which relies on the Ogallala Aquifer for drinking water.

Water levels are dropping in the Ogallala Aquifer, and states in the Great Plains are considering whether to monitor groundwater irrigators are pumping out.

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This City in Kansas Really Conserves Water, But That Might Not be Enough to Survive

By | October 11, 2022 | 0
The Hays water conservation program's mascot, WaterSmart Wally, gives out high fives at a recent street fair. Wally is just one sign of how far the town's water-saving culture has come since the 1990s.

Thanks to decades of conservation efforts, Hays has become a place where thinking about your water use is a way of life. But as climate change brings drier, hotter weather to Kansas, more cities may have to follow a similar path.

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How Kansas Could Lose Billions in Land Values as its Underground Water Runs Dry

By | April 1, 2022 | 0
Center pivot irrigation systems like this one in Finney County pump water up from the Ogallala aquifer to spray on crops. This part of southwest Kansas experienced some of the state's worst aquifer declines last year as drought pushed farmers to pump more water from underground.

The water in the Ogallala aquifer is worth billions of dollars to western Kansas, but it’s rapidly disappearing. And it’s been a challenge to find ways to slow the depletion.

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As Fertilizer Pollutes Tap Water in Small Towns, Rural Kansans Pay the Price

By | March 30, 2022 | 0
Former Haviland mayor Robert Ellis stands between pipes inside the small town's multimillion-dollar water treatment plant.

For towns with only a few hundred residents, keeping tap water clean and safe can pose a crippling expense. The predicament is likely to become more common in western Kansas as farm chemicals seep into dwindling water supplies.

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