Gov. Greg Abbott recently declared a water emergency in Texas. He wants the Texas Legislature to pass billions of dollars in funding to maintain and build new infrastructure to ensure the state has enough water for the next 50 years. That means some funding could become available if Amarillo decides to build a plant to treat wastewater so that it’s safe to drink. 

The Texas Panhandle is facing a major water crisis. The Ogallala Aquifer supplies drinking water for millions and irrigation for crops grown in the middle third of the United States. And the aquifer is disappearing — faster than we think. 

The Simpson family farms about 100 acres near Lubbock, Texas, with less and less water available from the site’s wells. So they’re working to conserve and making changes to the ways the land has been farmed for the past three generations.

Most of the water used in the Texas Panhandle is really old. It’s from the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the largest underground freshwater resources in the United States. How old is the water? And how did it get there anyway? It’s all here.