Center-pivot circles here are watered from the Ogallala, and that supply is finite

If you fly over Kit Carson County, you see green circles stamped across the farmland. Those are center-pivot sprinklers, and the water spraying out of them comes from underground, from the High Plains aquifer that many people call the Ogallala.

This aquifer is a layer of water-bearing rock and sand beneath the plains. It took a very long time to fill, and in this dry climate it refills slowly. The U.S. Geological Survey tracks water levels across the eight states the aquifer covers, and in parts of eastern Colorado, more water has been pumped out than nature puts back.

Why a buyer or landowner should care: irrigated farm ground is valuable partly because of the water under it, and that water is not guaranteed to pump at the same rate forever. A pivot that runs strong today depends on the well, the aquifer level, and the permit behind it. None of that is something you can judge by looking at the surface.

If a property’s value rests on irrigation, ask about the well and the aquifer it taps, and check current conditions with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Colorado Division of Water Resources.