In November 2001, Kansas State University’s Research and Extension office reported on a commission’s recommendations to preserve the Ogallala aquifer. This aquifer flows beneath parts of eight states, providing water for consumption and irrigation.

The aquifer was once considered so flush with water that, as the commission report put it, “if it were pumped out over the nation, the Ogallala would cover all 50 states with one-and-one half feet of water.”

The aquifer was already in peril in 2001, hence the commission’s work. Five years later, however, sections of the aquifer are so dry that one small Kansas town is buying its fresh water from another source. In other areas, according to an Associated Press story, water reduction plans are in effect. And there’s talk of paying farmers to stop watering crops. The federal government is getting involved, too, worried that the aquifer will go dry within two decades.

The Ogallala supports the nation’s breadbasket. Corn, wheat and other crops grow on it. Cattle feed on the irrigated land above it. If the Ogallala dies, the ripple effect will be felt way beyond the eight states who share the aquifer now.

The Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer is not as big as the Ogallala and it’s shared by just two states – Idaho and Washington. So far, the aquifer has not run dry, and there has been no water rationing or mandates to farmers to cease pumping aquifer water. But the health of the aquifer directly influences the well-being of the Spokane River and vice versa. The two are interdependent, recharging each other at various points along the river’s 111-mile route.

The aquifer here faces many of the same pressures endangering the Ogallala. So the crisis in Kansas provides a cautionary tale.

“The Ogallala, which is the largest aquifer in the world, is being mined at an incredible rate,” said Idaho aquifer expert Ken Lustig. “If you mine the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Aquifer fast enough, you are going to dry up the Spokane River.”

Fortunately, both Idaho and Washington legislatures have the aquifer on tap this session.

In Idaho, a bill is being considered that would create an aquifer protection district. Residents of the district would pay a small yearly fee earmarked for aquifer protection. It’s a worthy bill, deserving of passage.

Under consideration in Washington is a bill banning the use of phosphates in dishwashing detergent. Phosphates feed algae blooms, which compromise the long-term health of the river – and the aquifer. The ban would allow individuals to participate in a much broader cleanup plan for the river. This bill, too, deserves passage.

The Washington state Senate approved a budget with $1.25 million for Spokane River cleanup efforts. The House deleted the money. As the budget compromise process continues, the money should be restored.

These individual actions – the creation of the aquifer district, the phosphate ban, the cleanup money – won’t alone save the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Aquifer. There is not one simple solution to prevent the “Ogallalization” of the aquifer here.

Preservation will take large and small actions. And the time for these actions is right now.