Lincoln Journal Star Press Release
By BEN DROZD, Lincoln Journal Star
Groundwater levels across Nebraska declined more than half a foot last spring amid persistent drought, with the biggest drops concentrated in eastern Nebraska, according to a new study.
The report from the Conservation and Survey Division at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s School of Natural Resources shows that groundwater levels declined on average by 0.52 feet statewide between the springs of 2023 and 2024, with the largest declines — in some cases exceeding 10 feet — in eastern Nebraska.
Aaron Young, one of the authors of the report, said that years of below-average precipitation in eastern Nebraska has forced farmers to pump more water for irrigation.
Nearly 5,000 wells were measured in spring 2023 and spring 2024 to monitor changes, with 61% of the wells recording a decline. Much of Nebraska has experienced some level of drought over the past five years, the report says, although easing drought conditions in western Nebraska during the 2023 growing season led to some rises in groundwater levels.
“Nebraska has been in some level of drought for most of the last five years or so,” Young said. “Eastern Nebraska has kind of taken the brunt of that drought, and because it is drier, they don’t have as much water available for recharge to our aquifers.”
While groundwater levels are declining, Young said that Nebraska is not in danger of running out of water. Nebraska still has significantly more groundwater than the surrounding states that are a part of the High Plains aquifer system.
“We’re not going to run out of water anytime soon,” Young said. “You see lots of stories in Kansas and Texas where areas are completely out of water, and they can’t pump it. So, we’re not to that point yet.”
Young said that years of above-average precipitation can help the groundwater levels to increase. Still, if groundwater continues to decline, he said that farmers and ranchers on the edge of the aquifer could run into issues.
However, Young doesn’t expect that to happen anytime soon.
“That is something that would take a very, very prolonged period of much below-average precipitation to happen,” Young said. “By that, I’m talking on the order of probably decades. Once again, most declines that we’re seeing right now will likely come back up.”
