"The Rain We Keep" is a documentary series about water conservation in the Texas Panhandle and the state of the Ogallala Aquifer, our primary water source. The series will premiere at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 7 on Panhandle PBS.
On November 7, Panhandle PBS will debut "The Rain We Keep," a multi-part series documenting how life in our region will change if we do not alter our unsustainable draining of the Ogallala Aquifer.
The aquifer is our primary source of water on the Texas High Plains, and we're draining that tank far faster than nature can refill it. By some estimates, our region and others could run out of groundwater by the end of this century.
Texas Panhandle residents need only to look to the South Plains and Eastern New Mexico, on the thinning fringes of the aquifer, to see towns already challenged by declining water supplies.
Some say it's not about the rain we get. It's about the rain we keep. Will Masters of Amarillo and a team of volunteers work to build natural dams that will slow, spread and sink water into the earth instead of letting it drain away.
"So, there's a learned powerlessness," Masters said. "I think we've been taught that there's nothing we can do about it. And it took a while for me to come to the realization that that's not true. It's a myth. It's a falsehood."
Chris Grotegut of Dawn, Eric Simpson of Shallowater, and Ricky Lockmiller of Curry County, N.M., have drastically changed how they farm to reduce water use. Agriculture generated about $10 billion for the Texas Panhandle regional economy from 2013-2017. Teams of research scientists here are searching for new ways to conserve water, testing sustainable agriculture practices and developing more drought-resistant crops.
Other scientists, wildlife biologists and nonprofits, backed by millions of dollars in federal funding, are reclaiming local playa lakes not only for the water they recharge to the aquifer, but also for wildlife and a restored ecosystem.
A related podcast will highlight other local efforts.
Full Episodes
Explore the story of the historically misunderstood Ogallala Aquifer.
The Ogallala Aquifer’s decline is reshaping agriculture production in the region.
Meet the people who are working to recharge the Ogallala Aquifer.
In this episode, we look at flipping the script from a mining culture to a conservation culture.
Resources
To learn more about water and conservation efforts in our region, check out the following resources.
Conservation Entities
Ogallala Commons
Ogallala Commons, Inc., is a 501(c)3 nonprofit education and leadership organization that reinvigorates commonwealth to build vibrant Great Plains communities. The group’s programs include workforce and leadership development, stewarding natural resources, and rebuilding local food systems.
Ogallala Life
Ogallala Life is an environmental conservation organization begun to educate and empower area residents and communities to rehydrate the landscape. The group has built natural infrastructure – leaky dams of earth, rocks and vegetation – along the Canadian River and West Amarillo Creek to slow, spread and soak rainwater, rather than seeing it run off.
Ogallala Land & Water Conservancy
Ogallala Land & Water Conservancy is a New Mexico nonprofit created specifically for the purpose of conserving the groundwater resources of the Ogallala Aquifer, through the use of conservation easements while transitioning irrigated farmland and ranchland to dryland cropping or grazing land.
Texas Playa Conservation Initiative
The Texas Playa Conservation Initiative’s goal is to create an abundance of healthy playa wetlands across the Texas Panhandle to benefit current and future residents and producers reliant on the Ogallala Aquifer. It is a program of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Playa Lakes Joint Venture
Playa Lakes Joint Venture is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving the plays, prairies and landscapes of the western Great Plains to benefit birds, other wildlife, and people. Its role is to facilitate communication and coordination among the partners, provide science-based information and tools, and remove roadblocks to conservation. It serves portions of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska.
- View county maps of playa lakes in the PLJV region here: https://pljv.org/playas/playa-tools/
Texan by Nature
Founded in 2011 by Laura Bush, Texans by Nature exists to advance conservation that is beneficial to people, prosperity, and natural resources. TxN partners with conservation groups and businesses, acting as an accelerator for conservation groups and a strategic partner for businesses.
Governmental Entities
Texas Water Development Board Groundwater page
The agency’s mission is to lead the state’s efforts in ensuring a secure water future for Texas. The board collects and disseminates water-related data; assists with regional water supply and flood planning that contributes to preparation of state water and flood plans; and, administers cost-effective financial programs for constructing water supply, wastewater treatment, flood control, and agricultural water conservation projects.
Texas State Water Plan 2022
The 2022 State Water Plan is the fifth such plan based on the work of hundreds of water planning stakeholders, including 16 water planning groups across Texas.
Texas Region A Panhandle Water Planning Group
Region A encompasses Armstrong, Carson, Childress, Collingsworth, Dallam, Donley, Gray, Hall, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman and Wheeler counties.
Texas Region O Llano Estacado Water Planning Group
Region O includes Bailey, Briscoe, Castro, Cochran, Crosby, Dawson, Deaf Smith, Dickens, Floyd, Gaines, Garza, Hale, Hockley, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Motley, Parmer, Swisher, Terry and Yoakum counties.
Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District
Based in White Deer, PGCD includes Potter, Carson, Gray, Wheeler, Roberts, Armstrong and Donley counties.
North Plains Groundwater Conservation District
Based in Dumas, NPGCD includes Dallam, Sherman, Hansford, Ochiltree and Lipscomb counties, most of Hartley and Moore counties, and a portion of Hutchinson County.
Hemphill County Underground Water Conservation District
This single county conservation district is based at Canadian.
Mesquite Groundwater Conservation District
Based in Wellington, Mesquite GDC serves Collingsworth, and Hall counties and parts of northern Childress County and eastern Briscoe County
Gateway Groundwater Conservation District
Based in Quanah, Gateway GCD includes Hardeman, Childress, Cottle, Foard, King and Motley counties.
High Plains Underground Water Conservation District
Based at Lubbock, the district serves parts of Potter, Randall, Deaf Smith, Armstrong, Floyd, Crosby and Hockley counties, and all of Parmer, Castro, Swisher, Bailey, Lamb, Hale, Cochran, Lubbock and Lynn counties.
Research Entities
Texas A&M University Ogallala Aquifer Program
Since 2003, the Texas A&M University Ogallala Aquifer Program has provided permanent federal funding to a research consortium for numerous research projects on water conservation. The program includes U.S. Department of Agricultural Research Service, Kansas State University, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Tech University and West Texas A&M University. The program’s focus is to improve the sustainability of agricultural industries and rural communities through scientific research and technology transfer.
West Texas A&M University Water Working Group
The Water Working Group exists to serve the Texas Panhandle region on all issues of water. As researchers and educators, the group contributes to understanding, mitigating, and solving water challenges in its water-scarce region.
Texas Tech Center for Water Law and Policy
The Texas Tech Center for Water Law and Policy aims to secure current water resources for the future using legal solutions. The center looks to law, science and economics to solve water problems in ways that respect all use sectors while protecting the environment. Through partnerships with departments in other disciplines, government entities and nonprofits, students are provided opportunities to craft legal and policy solutions to natural resource challenges.
Ogallala Water
The Ogallala Water Coordinated Agriculture project was funded from 2016-2020 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its National Institute of Food and Agriculture. It was a multidisciplinary research and outreach project focused on helping to address issues related to groundwater declines (quantity and quality) and long-term agricultural sustainability in the High Plains Researchers. It included a team of about 70 researchers, extension service specialists, students and post-doctoral fellows based at nine institutions and six hub agricultural experiment stations in six Ogallala states.
Reading List
- Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West by Wallace Stegner
- Cadillac Desert: The American West and its Disappearing Water by Marc Reisner
- Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness by Edward Abbey
- Dripping Dry: Literature, Politics and Water in the Desert Southwest by David N. Cassuto
- Groundwater Exploitation in the High Plains edited by David E. Kromm & Stephen White
- Groundwater Sustainability: Conception, Development and Application by Robert E. Mace
- Land of Bright Promise: Advertising The Texas Panhandle and South Plains, 1910-1970 by Donald E. Green
- Playas: Jewels of the Plains by Jim Steiert
- Ogallala Blue: Water and Life on the High Plains by William Ashworth
- Red Water, Black Gold: The Canadian River in Western Texas, 1920-1999 by Margaret A. Bickers
- Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains by Lucas Bessire
- The Texas Land and Development Company: A Panhandle Promotion, 1912-1956 by B.R. Brunson
Youth Titles Recommended by Amarillo Public Library
- Anna Carries Water by Olive Senior
- Be Thankful for Water: How Water Sustains Our Planet by Harriet Ziefert
- It's Raining by Gail Gibbons
- The Water Lady by Alice B. McGinty
- We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom
- When the World Runs Dry by Nancy F. Castaldo
- You Wouldn't Want to Live Without Clean Water by Roger Canavan
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