Groundwater Depletion and Agricultural Land Use Change in the High Plains: A Case Study from Wichita County, Kansas*

*Funding for this research was provided by an NSF grant for the Human-Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) project, the Kansas Space Grant Consortium (NASA), and the NASA Hyper Spatial Imagery of Rural Environments (HYSPIRE) research program. The authors would like to thank Dr. David Kromm and several anonymous reviewers for their help in improving earlier drafts of the manuscript. Special thanks also go to The Department of Geography at Kansas State University for supporting the lead author while he was a MA student.

Abstract

Shifts in resource availability and resulting land use changes are important research themes for coupled human and natural systems and human dimensions of global environmental change. This study examines the relationship between groundwater depletion and agricultural land use change within a single county in the High Plains, where agro-economic systems and populations are dependent on access to reliable groundwater supplies. Results indicate a significant relationship between high proportionate decreases in groundwater and land being removed from irrigation. This case study strengthens the links among local, regional, and global environmental change, and contributes to a greater understanding of the High Plains in the context of regional sustainability and vulnerability concerns.

Key Words:

• GIS
• groundwater
• High Plains
• human dimensions of global change
• land use

Notes

Note: MSS = Multi Spectral Scanner; TM = Thematic Mapper; RMS = root-mean-square.

^aCloud covers do not interfere with the study area.

*Funding for this research was provided by an NSF grant for the Human-Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) project, the Kansas Space Grant Consortium (NASA), and the NASA Hyper Spatial Imagery of Rural Environments (HYSPIRE) research program. The authors would like to thank Dr. David Kromm and several anonymous reviewers for their help in improving earlier drafts of the manuscript. Special thanks also go to The Department of Geography at Kansas State University for supporting the lead author while he was a MA student.