VOA标准英语204--Kansas Farmers Work to Prevent Depletion of Ogallala Aquifer 堪萨斯农场主努力保护蓄水层

 

Kansas Farmers Work to Prevent Depletion¹ of Ogallala Aquifer² 堪萨斯农场主努力保护蓄水层

COLBY, KANSAS — The Ogallala Aquifer is a large underground water resource that sits below parts of seven U.S. states in the Midwest.  The aquifer is used to provide fresh water to people and to irrigate³ crops in the region.  But continuing to use the water for the agriculture industry could eventually deplete⁴ the aquifer, according to a Kansas State University study.  Kansas farmers are working to preserve it for future generations.

Mitchell Baalman's farm outside Hoxie, Kansas is about as rural as you can get.

"We're kind of out here on our own.  Not a lot of populace," he said.

And not a lot of rain, due to a prolonged drought.

"We're the eternal optimists⁶, us farmers out here in western Kansas,"  Baalman said. "We always think it's going to get better."

Baalman farms land that has been in his family for four generations.  His father was born during the infamous⁷ Dust Bowl in the 1930s, when the farmland dried out, dusted up, and drove people away.

"We're probably almost to those circumstances right now," he said.

But what makes the current drought different from the Dust Bowl at the Baalman family farm is the Ogallala Aquifer.

Out in the heart of his wheat fields, an industrial pump draws water out of a well tapped into the massive underground aquifer.

The water reaches an above-ground "pivot⁸" system that slowly moves in a circular pattern over the planted crops.  Baalman says it is a major improvement over the old pipe systems that used to flood the farmland.

"Ten years ago, we might have averaged 700 to 800 gallons per minute wells," he said. "Today, in 2014, we're probably averaging 400."

Baalman is proud of those figures.  He is keenly aware that the depletion of the Ogallala aquifer could ultimately drive his family off the land.

"I started realizing the importance of water when I realized that my boys - and everyone else's kids - want to move back to these small towns," he said. "To keep bringing the populace back to these small communities, we have to have the water."

"It's an emotional issue, I think, for anyone that works in water," said Katherine Wilkins-Wells, general manager of the Northwest Kansas Groundwater Management District 4. "It's everything to these people and to the people that work in it.  Without water, we are not existing."

There are five such districts in Kansas, governed by local boards, which include farmers like Baalman.  The districts work with farmers on ways to curb⁹ overall water use.

"There's a technology that they're looking at - where the center pivot will go around the field, and will increase its water use or decrease it as it's talking to a computer to a moisture probe that's in the ground, and those moisture probes are telling the sprinklers when they need to be on and when they need to be off to get water to the roots as quick as possible," Wilkins-Wells said.

Ever the eternal optimist⁵, Baalman is confident in the future of his farm, thanks to good crop planning and water conservation.

"It'll rain sometime, and all we hope is we have the right amount of fertilizer, the right hybrid¹⁰ out there, the correct crop out there to utilize¹¹ that water at the time," he said. "My dad went through it.  My grandpa went through it.  We're just going through it now."

 

He hopes his efforts will ensure the Ogallala Aquifer is a viable¹² water source, one his own children can - and will - someday depend on.

1 depletion   

n.耗尽，枯竭

参考例句：

• Increased consumption of water has led to rapid depletion of groundwater reserves.用水量的增加导致了地下水贮备迅速枯竭。
• Farmers should rotate crops every season to prevent depletion of the soil.农夫每季应该要轮耕，以免耗尽土壤。

2 aquifer   

n.含水土层

参考例句：

• An aquifer is a water-bearing rock stratum such as sandstone and chalk.地下蓄水层是一些有水的岩石层，如沙岩和白垩岩。
• The wine region's first water came from an ancient aquifer.用来灌溉这个地区葡萄园的第一批水来自古老的地下蓄水层。

3 irrigate   

vt.灌溉，修水利，冲洗伤口，使潮湿

参考例句：

• The farmer dug several trenches to irrigate the rice fields.这个农民挖了好几条沟以灌溉稻田。
• They have built canals to irrigate the desert.他们建造成水渠以灌溉沙漠。

4 deplete   

v.弄空，排除，减轻，减少...体液，放去...的血

参考例句：

• Most native mammal species have been severely depleted.大多数本地哺乳动物的数量都已经大大减少了。
• Elastic collisions deplete very little of the electron's energy.弹性碰撞中电子减少的能量非常少。

5 optimist   

n.乐观的人，乐观主义者

参考例句：

• We are optimist and realist.我们是乐观主义者，又是现实主义者。
• Peter,ever the optimist,said things were bound to improve.一向乐观的皮特说，事情必定是会好转的。

6 optimists   

n.乐观主义者( optimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even optimists admit the outlook to be poor. 甚至乐观的人都认为前景不好。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Optimists reckon house prices will move up with inflation this year. 乐观人士认为今年的房价将会随通货膨胀而上涨。 来自辞典例句

7 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

8 pivot   

v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的

参考例句：

• She is the central pivot of creation and represents the feminine aspect in all things.她是创造的中心枢轴，表现出万物的女性面貌。
• If a spring is present,the hand wheel will pivot on the spring.如果有弹簧，手轮的枢轴会装在弹簧上。

9 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

10 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

11 utilize   

vt.使用，利用

参考例句：

• The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
• You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。

12 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。