Pathways to sustaining agriculture and communities in the Ogallala region Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

Ogallala aquifer depletion has local to global ramifications. What “can be done” to address depletion is similarly of global significance. A longstanding mindset of inevitability of 7 groundwater depletion in the region is shifting thanks to the existence of increasingly feasible pathways for a wide range of actors to support productive shifts in conservation-oriented agricultural management at multiple scales, and efforts to boost within and cross-state awareness of and engagement in these pathways. The Ogallala Aquifer Summits have been key in coalescing thinking and action around a new vision for the future of the region through iterative and interactive, facilitated discussions that help identify the factors, programs, investment, and knowledge required to scale land use and water management shifts to sustain the region’s communities and agriculture.