The Sixth Great Lake

Ogallala is a city in Nebraska and the name of the largest aquifer in the United States; although it stretches down into Texas, two-thirds of it sits under the state of Nebraska. An aquifer is an underground lake and Ogallala is one of the largest in the world. The aquifer was originally thought to be an inexhaustible resource but of course it is not and Texas, for example, is already feeling the shortage of water since the depth of the aquifer under Texas has decreased by 100 feet since the 1940s.^[1]

Most of the water pumped from Ogallala is used in food production. Some sources say that the majority of the trillions of gallons of water pumped out of Ogallala each year is being used to irrigate farms and some say it’s used in beef production. The latter is actually true since because most of the grain grown in America is used to feed cattle. More water is withdrawn from the Ogallala aquifer every year for beef production than is used to grow all the fruits and vegetables in the entire country.^[2] While quite a few sources I found say that it takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef, the lowest estimate I found (from National Geographic) says 1,800 gallons.

Besides overuse, the aquifer is also threatened with pollution by agricultural run-off containing pesticides and nitrogen from fertilizer, industrial waste, and Americans dumping millions of gallons of motor oil in their yards. Runoff from animal feedlots greatly threatens the health of the ecosystem because it contains hormones, antibiotics, and a high concentration of ammonia that converts to nitrates. Animal manure is one of the top sources of nitrate pollution in water which is harmful mostly to babies and pregnant women, besides a cause of stomach cancer.^[3]

While the states that rely on Ogallala are developing sustainable practices to use less water, 11% of the aquifer has been pumped out since the 1930s and 25% will be gone by 2020. Wells in Colorado and Kansas have started to go dry. When completely drained, it will take more than 6,000 years of non-use to refill. Yet another way that cutting back on factory meat will save a lot more than your health.