{"product_id":"ogallala-blue-water-and-life-on-the-high-plains-9780393058420","title":"Ogallala Blue: Water and Life on the High Plains","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOgallala Blue: Water and Life on the High Plains\u003c\/strong\u003e by Ashworth, William. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780393058420.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe story of a crucial, dwindling natural resource: an invisible ocean of fresh water under the Great Plains.\n\nThe Ogallala aquifer contains enough water to fill Lake Erie not once but nine times over, and it stretches from Texas to South Dakota, from Colorado almost to Nebraska. Every year, five trillion gallons are pumped out for irrigation, and if the aquifer went dry (or, more accurately, when it goes dry), $20 billion worth of food and fiber would disappear practically overnight.\n\nIn this lively, carefully researched narrative, William Ashworth tells the history of the Ogallala, from its formation after the retreat of the glaciers through to its uncertain future. The most dramatic part of that history deals with efforts to exploit the hidden waters, starting with the primitive wells of long-vanished tribes, through the invention of the center-pivot sprinkler, and on to ever more sophisticated extraction technologies. This is an account of people as well as water, with many vignettes of those living in the shadow of the Ogallalas decline and ultimate demise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44966446628917,"sku":"ByrdShop_0393058425","price":30.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780393058420_02ed4cf8-a427-4389-bd26-64cd34000996.jpg?v=1778897991","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/ogallala-blue-water-and-life-on-the-high-plains-9780393058420","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}