ABSTRACT
In the Texas High Plains (THP), the Panhandle region of northwest Texas, groundwater for agriculture accounts for 96% of all Southern Ogallala Aquifer withdrawals. 1 The heavy agricultural reliance on groundwater is attributable to limited surface supplies and the high cost of developing surface-water storage within the region. Annual withdrawals from the Southern Ogallala Aquifer have been estimated to be more than 10 times greater than the natural recharge rate, 2 so the aquifer is being mined as an exhaustible resource.
