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ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Soil and Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #321792
Title: Promoting efficient water management through effective outreach education in the High Plains and beyond: Role of the Ogallala Aquifer Program

Author
item PORTER, DANA - Texas Agrilife Extension
item ROGERS, DANNY - Kansas State University
item Brauer, David
item MAREK, THOMAS - Texas Agrilife Research
item Gowda, Prasanna
item LAMM, FREDDIE - Kansas State University
item BORDOVSKY, JAMES - Texas A&M Agrilife
item HOWELL, TERRY - Retired ARS Employee

Submitted to: ASABE Annual International Meeting
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/15/2015
Publication Date: 11/10/2015
Citation: Porter, D.O., Rogers, D., Brauer, D.K., Marek, T.H., Gowda, P., Lamm, F.R., Bordovsky, J.P., Howell, T.A. 2015. Promoting efficient water management through effective outreach education in the High Plains and beyond: Role of the Ogallala Aquifer Program. ASABE Annual International Meeting. CDROM: Paper#152143456.

Interpretive Summary: Water available for irrigation from the Ogallala Aquifer in western Kansas and on the Texas High Plains is decreasing and agriculture must become more water efficient to maintain or improve farm income and rural economies. New technologies and management practices are being developed through a federal-state consortium called the Ogallala Aquifer Program; however, these technologies and practices need technology transfer activities for them to have maximum impacts. This report describes how scientists and extension specialists are using educational events, research and extension publications and products, media outreach, and mentoring activities to advance water conservation practices on the Southern High Plains.

Technical Abstract: The Ogallala Aquifer Program (OAP) is a consortium between the USDA Agricultural Research Service and partnering universities in Texas and Kansas. The OAP has coordinated and leveraged highly effective irrigation research and extension programs with overarching goals to prolong the life of the Ogallala Aquifer and enhance rural economies in the US Southern High Plains. The OAP has increased capability of research and extension programs to address local and regional issues comprehensively through more collaboration, generating national and international recognition. Stakeholders include agricultural producers; irrigation practitioners; crop and technical advisers; educators; off-farm decision makers; water resource planners/managers, and the general public. Stakeholders possess wide ranges of specific interests, technical understanding, and information delivery preferences. This paper describes how educational events, research and extension publications and products, media outreach, and mentoring are used to meet stakeholder information needs and promote basic and applied research programs in the High Plains.