'I am striving to chart more sustainable paths forward for the aquifers supporting irrigated agriculture in Kansas'

University of Kansas faculty are striving to advance knowledge, interpret our world, solve problems, spark innovation, create beauty and catalyze imagination through their research, scholarship and creative activity. Through the “I Am Striving” series, we’ll learn more about what inspires KU researchers, as well as the goals and impact of their work. 

Q&A with Jim Butler, senior scientist at the Kansas Geological Survey

Explain your research as you would explain it to someone outside your field, such as your grandparents. 

I’m a groundwater hydrologist, so I study how water moves underground. My major emphasis is on groundwater in aquifers; these are geologic units that readily yield water to wells (groundwater moves in the very small spaces between the rock particles). I’m particularly interested in what the future holds for the aquifers that provide critically needed water for irrigated agriculture in our world of increasing population, dietary shifts, and climate change. In Kansas and around the globe, the majority of the pumped groundwater is used for irrigated agriculture (over 95% of all groundwater pumped in western Kansas is used for irrigation). This intensive pumping cannot be sustained for much longer in many aquifers in Kansas and elsewhere, which has important ramifications for global food supplies. I work on developing a better understanding of how these aquifers respond to pumping and other stresses in an effort to help redirect them onto a more sustainable path.
 

What does your research look like? What methods do you use? 

My colleagues and I use a variety of field and modeling methods in our research. For example, for the last thirteen years, I’ve led our index well program in western and south-central Kansas. This is a network of 36 wells, each of which has a sensor that takes a measurement of the water-level position every hour. Most of the wells have telemetry equipment so the measurement is sent to our website where it can be viewed in near real time by the general public. A significant portion of my research has involved interpreting the records from those wells to glean important insights about the response of the aquifer to pumping and other stresses. These insights have led us to develop simple methods that can be used throughout western and south-central Kansas to obtain a better understanding of what the future holds for the aquifers in that region.

What inspires your research? Why are you passionate about this work? 

I am inspired to work on issues of societal relevance, and the future of aquifers supporting irrigated agriculture is certainly one of those. The aquifers in western and south-central Kansas cannot sustain the current levels of pumping, but our research can help chart a more productive future for them. My colleagues and I are deeply satisfied when the methods we have developed are applied in western Kansas and elsewhere to extend the lifespan of heavily stressed aquifers. Our research at the Kansas Geological Survey is truly a collective effort; I’m fortunate to work with colleagues who have great expertise and share my passion for making a difference for Kansas and our discipline of groundwater hydrology. 

How does your research directly impact your field, society, Kansas and the world? 

The Kansas Geological Survey (KGS) is a research and service unit of KU. We have no regulatory or policy-making function. Our mission, when you cut to the chase, is to provide a sound scientific foundation for decision making on natural resources issues in Kansas. Obviously, the groundwater in our aquifers is one of our state’s most important natural resources. Our work at the KGS is therefore directed at making a difference for Kansas’ groundwater resources. In pursuit of that work, my colleagues and I have developed applied methods for groundwater hydrology that are used in Kansas and across the world in investigations of groundwater resources. 

What is a recent study/example of work you’d like to share? 

I’d like to share some of the results of our ongoing study of the portion of the Ogallala Aquifer in western Kansas. This aquifer has been heavily pumped for decades in support of irrigated agriculture. That intensive use has come at a price in terms of aquifer conditions, as large groundwater level declines have been observed across the region. In some areas, the thickness of the aquifer has decreased more than 60% since the onset of widespread pumping for irrigated agriculture. This level of aquifer depletion poses an existential threat to the continued viability of irrigated agriculture in western Kansas and the rural communities that depend on it.

Our work is focused on how to redirect this heavily stressed aquifer on to a more promising path. We only have one option in the near term (a few to several decades) and that is to reduce groundwater pumping in conjunction with modification of agricultural practices. My colleagues and I have developed an approach for calculating how much pumping needs to be reduced to have a significant impact on water-level decline rates. This method, which is on firm theoretical foundations and uses field data that are commonly collected in Kansas, is now being used throughout western Kansas to plan groundwater conservation areas.

As these groundwater conservation areas get established, we are asked if these areas are actually saving water. We have developed a simple empirical approach to address that question and have applied it to assess the performance of the existing conservation areas. One of these areas has reduced annual groundwater pumping by close to 25% with little to no impact on farmers’ incomes. However, our assessment shows that not all areas have plans that will make much of a difference
It is imperative that we share our findings with others. We thus present our results to irrigation groups, water management agencies, state legislative committees, and the national and international scientific communities.  

What do you hope are some of the outcomes of your research and work? 

I hope that the study that I described above will lead to marked improvements in conditions in the aquifers of Kansas and that the methods we have developed will be used by others to better conditions in aquifers around the globe.

Time is of the essence, as we need to better position our aquifers and the agricultural production that they support to face the climatic challenges that lie ahead. I have testified about our work to committees of the Kansas Legislature and did press events with a previous governor to spread the word about our work and its ramifications. My message about conditions and future prospects for the Ogallala Aquifer is simple. Continuation of business as usual will not end well. Although the hour is late in western Kansas, all is not lost. The establishment of groundwater conservation areas provides an opportunity for the region to change the current trajectory of the Ogallala Aquifer. We have developed methods that can assist in the planning and assessment of such areas, but we need to put those methods into practice more broadly across the Ogallala Aquifer in western Kansas, as well as similar aquifers elsewhere, before those systems get so depleted that little can be done. We have a window of opportunity but it will not be open for much longer in many areas.