DRAFT: Great Plains Problem Statement

From a Grasslands Declaration Working Group

The Great Plains are critical for many reasons. They provide food for millions of people around the world, through farming and ranching, and filter and store clean water in vast quantities. It has been estimated that the Ogallala Aquifer alone stores 3.25 billion acre-feet of drainable water. These vast reserves of water provide clean drinking water for families and fisheries reaching all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. They fill streams and ponds used by birds, fish, and frogs, feed vast meadows of wildflowers, alive with the buzz of pollinators, and keep family farms in business. These Great Plains serve as a kidney, functioning without cessation, to keep the flow of water on time, and in the right condition for life to remain possible. That is, as long as they are allowed to remain healthy. Read More …