A recent report of the value of water in western Kansas by two Kansas State University agricultural economists has concluded that land values in that part of the state are $3.8 billion greater today than they otherwise would be without access to the Ogallala Aquifer. “It’s a large, substantial number and it provides evidence of just how valuable irrigation is in western Kansas,” said Gabe Sampson, an associate professor in K-State’s Department of Agricultural Economics. The study takes a look at ways water is captured in order to make a judgment on its value. In this case, farmers draw water from the aquifer to irrigate farm crops and raise livestock; in 2013, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service listed sales from eight western Kansas counties overlying the aquifer at $4.7 billion, or about one-third of total agriculture revenue in the entire state.
Source: themercury.com
