Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Irrigated crop production

Groundwater depletion reduces drought resiliency

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Water

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Pioneering empirical assessment shows decreases in aquifer thickness diminish the capacity of groundwater supplies to buffer agricultural production from drought.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1: Percent change in aquifer thickness from predevelopment to present in the High Plains Aquifer in Kansas.

References

  1. Alley, W. M. & Alley, R. High and Dry: Meeting the Challenges of the World’s Growing Dependence on Groundwater (Yale University Press, 2017).

  2. McGuire, V. L. & Strauch, K. R. Water-Level and Recoverable Water in Storage Changes, High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment to 2017 and 2015–17, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5080 (US Geological Survey, 2022).

  3. Mieno, T., Foster, T., Kakimoto, S. & Brozović, N. Nat. Water https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00173-7 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Deines, J. M. et al. Agric. Water Manag. 233, 106061 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Pérez-Blanco, C. D., Loch, A., Ward, F., Perry, C. & Adamson, D. Environ. Res. Lett. 16, 114032 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Marston, L. T. et al. Environ. Res. Lett. 17, 111001 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Griggs, B. W. Univ. Pac. Law Rev. 52, 495–547 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Whittemore, D. O., Butler, J. J. Jr, Bohling, G. C. & Wilson, B. B. Agric. Water Manag. 287, 108408 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Whittemore, D. O., Butler, J. J. Jr & Wilson, B. B. 2023 Status of the High Plains Aquifer in Kansas, Technical Series 25 (Kansas Geological Survey, 2023); https://kgs.ku.edu/2023-status-high-plains-aquifer-kansas

  10. Butler, J. J. Jr, Bohling, G. C., Perkins, S. P., Whittemore, D. O., Liu, G. & Wilson, B. B. Groundwater 61, 51–65 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    James J. Butler Jr & Donald O. Whittemore

Authors
  1. James J. Butler Jr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Donald O. Whittemore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James J. Butler Jr.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Butler, J.J., Whittemore, D.O. Groundwater depletion reduces drought resiliency. Nat Water 2, 10–11 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00185-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00185-3

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation