Use of ground water for irrigation in Seward County, Nebraska in 1971

Use of ground water for irrigation in Seward County west of the Big Blue River increased tremendously from 1945 to 1971. During that period, the number of irrigation wells increased from 5 to 614. Ground-water withdrawals prior to 1971 are estimated to have reduced ground-water storage by about 270,000 acre-feet, and withdrawals during 1971 continued to reduce storage. The values for changes in storage were computed from weighted-average net differences in ground-water levels.

In 1971, average pumpage from the 32 wells for which well yield and hours of pumping were recorded indicates that pumpage from all wells totaled about 83,000 acre-feet.