Ogallala (High Plains) Aquifer
The Ogallala, formally the High Plains Aquifer, is the groundwater system that made the High Plains an agricultural region. It underlies 111.8 million acres across eight states and supports roughly 13 million irrigated acres through about 170,000 wells.
For an owner, the Ogallala is unusual in one crucial way: what you actually own, and therefore what you can lease, changes completely at the state line. In Texas the groundwater is your real property. In Kansas, Nebraska, or Colorado you hold a permit or allocation administered under rules that can be tightened. This page covers the condition of the aquifer, who governs it, and what that means for leasing.
- States
- Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming
- Governed by
- Eight state regimes: rule of capture + districts (TX), prior appropriation + GMDs (KS), NRDs (NE), designated basins (CO)
- Current status
- Long-term depletion; ~16.5 ft average decline since predevelopment (USGS, 2019 data)
What condition is the Ogallala actually in?
The authoritative eight-state benchmark is the U.S. Geological Survey. From predevelopment to 2019, the area-weighted average water level across the High Plains Aquifer declined 16.5 feet, and recoverable water in storage fell by about 286.4 million acre feet, to roughly 2.91 billion acre feet. Individual wells ranged from an 86-foot rise to a 265-foot decline.
The picture is not uniformly bleak, and recent state monitoring shows real divergence. Kansas recorded its first overall increase since 2019, while Texas and Nebraska continued to decline.
| Area | Change | Reporting year (published) |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas, statewide High Plains | +0.2 ft (first rise since 2019) | 2025 data (Apr 2026) |
| Kansas GMD 3 (southwest) | −0.62 ft | 2025 data (Apr 2026) |
| Kansas GMD 5 (Big Bend) | +1.5 ft | 2025 data (Apr 2026) |
| Texas, HPWD district | −0.57 ft (51 ft avg saturated thickness) | 2026 measurements |
| Nebraska, statewide | −0.29 ft (62% of ~5,000 wells declined) | 2026 report |
| Eight-state average | −16.5 ft since predevelopment | USGS, 2019 data |
Texas: you own the water, the district controls the flow
Texas is the only Ogallala state where groundwater is private property in place. Texas Water Code § 36.002 recognizes that a landowner owns the groundwater below the surface as real property, and the Texas Supreme Court confirmed in *Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day* (2012) that this is a constitutionally protected interest.
That ownership is severable. A landowner can reserve groundwater by express reservation in a deed, exactly as with minerals, and the Texas Supreme Court held in *Coyote Lake Ranch v. City of Lubbock* (2016) that groundwater rights are distinct from mineral rights, so an old general mineral reservation does not reserve the groundwater. That single point is a title-diligence item on every Texas Ogallala tract.
What ownership does not give you is unlimited production. Groundwater conservation districtsGroundwater conservation district (GCD)A local Texas district with authority to regulate groundwater production. Whether your land sits in one shapes what you can sell and to whom. set the allowable rate: the North Plains district limits pumping to 1.5 acre feet per acre across a 1,600-acre production unit, and non-exempt wells in the High Plains district are metered. You own the asset; the district governs the faucet.
The other seven states: leasing an allocation, not the aquifer
Outside Texas, the tradeable thing is a state-administered right or a district allocation, and every transfer runs through an approval process.
| State | Regime | Leasing mechanism |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas | Prior appropriationPrior appropriationThe western water doctrine of "first in time, first in right": when supply runs short, rights are filled strictly in order of their priority dates, oldest first. + GMDs, LEMAs | Water Banking Act deposits (groundwater deposits up to 5 years) |
| Nebraska | NRD allocations, certified irrigated acres | Transfers inside the district’s integrated management plan |
| Colorado | Designated basins, Ground Water Commission | Commission rules; 14 ground water management districts |
| Oklahoma | Equal proportionate share, OWRB | Allocation tied to acreage owned or leased over the basin |
| New Mexico | Prior appropriation; all basins declared | OSE permit and change applicationChange applicationThe state filing required to change a water right’s use, place of use, or point of diversion, including for most leases. Approval protects other rights from injury. |
| Wyoming | State Engineer; Laramie Co. control area (1981) | Temporary use agreements; control-area limits |
| South Dakota | Prior appropriation, no groundwater mining | Permit amendment; withdrawals capped at recharge |
Kansas water banking: the clearest lease pathway
The Kansas Water Banking Act (K.S.A. 82a-761 through 82a-773) authorizes chartered water banks to take deposits from water right holders, with groundwater deposits allowed for up to five years. The operating example is the Central Kansas Water Bank Association.
One structural limit worth knowing: a Kansas water bank may facilitate the lease or sale of water rights but may not itself own, buy, or sell them. Each chartered bank must also produce a savings of 10 percent or more in total groundwater consumed against a representative past period.
What the Ogallala does not have: a price
This is the honest and important part. There is no public, citable lease-rate index for Ogallala groundwater. Unlike California, where the NQH2O indexNQH2O (Nasdaq Veles California Water Index)The weekly index tracking actual water lease and sale prices across California’s five most active regions, quoted in dollars per acre foot. publishes a weekly spot price, or Idaho, where the state bank posts a rate, Ogallala transactions are private and unindexed.
A specific per-acre-foot lease figure circulates widely online attributed to a Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas article. We read that article: it does not contain the figure, and its actual price data is for the Edwards Aquifer, not the Ogallala. We do not publish it, and you should discount any broker or buyer who quotes it at you as an established market rate.
What is verifiable is that municipal buyers are real and active: the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority acquired water rights across more than 440,000 acres and supplies member cities from Roberts County groundwater, and the City of Amarillo has repeatedly pursued Roberts County rights. Prices in those deals were not disclosed per acre foot.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
Three developments that affect owners directly:
- Texas: Senate Bill 7 passed unanimously in 2025 and voters approved Proposition 4 on November 4, 2025, dedicating up to $1 billion a year to the Texas Water Fund beginning September 1, 2027, with no less than half of fund revenue directed to expanding water supply.
- Kansas: groundwater management districts must submit conservation and stabilization action plans to the Chief Engineer by July 1, 2026, and southwest Kansas GMD 3 has proposed a 25-year LEMA targeting a 27.7 percent reduction in use to stabilize the aquifer.
- Nebraska: the Legislature passed a 2026 law requiring annual water use reporting from data centers. In fully appropriated areas, a new user generally requires an existing user to stop, which is a direct driver of demand for leased or retired agricultural allocations.
What this means if you hold Ogallala water
Three practical conclusions. First, confirm which regime you are in before you price anything: Texas ownership and Kansas allocation are different assets with different buyers. Second, watch the regulatory calendar, because tightening district rules (LEMAs, action plans, control areas) change what a lease can deliver and therefore what it is worth.
Third, and most important: in an unindexed market, an independent valuation is not a nicety. It is the only way to know whether an offer reflects the market or reflects the fact that you have never seen one before.
Own water in the Ogallala?
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Article Sources
WaterLeases requires every market figure to trace to a public primary source: state agencies, published indices, official notices, or named reporting. Read our data and methodology standards.
- U.S. Geological Survey. McGuire, V.L., and Strauch, K.R., 2024. "Water-level and recoverable water in storage changes, High Plains Aquifer, predevelopment to 2019 and 2017 to 2019." SIR 2023-5143, published February 13, 2024.
- U.S. Geological Survey. High Plains Aquifer overview (111.8 million acres, eight states).
- Kansas Geological Survey. "Groundwater levels in the Kansas High Plains aquifer see first overall increase since 2019." Published April 2, 2026 (2025 measurement year).
- High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1. 2026 water level measurements (−0.57 ft; 51 ft average saturated thickness).
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln. 2026 Nebraska Statewide Groundwater-Level Monitoring Report coverage (−0.29 ft average; ~5,000 wells).
- Texas Water Code § 36.002 — landowner ownership of groundwater as real property.
- Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day, Texas Supreme Court, decided February 24, 2012.
- Kansas Water Banking Act, K.S.A. 82a-761 et seq. (groundwater deposits up to five years; banks may not own or trade rights).
- Oklahoma Water Resources Board. Groundwater use and equal proportionate share (allocation tied to acreage owned or leased).
- Colorado Division of Water Resources. Designated Basins and the Ground Water Commission.
- Texas Water Development Board. Proposition 4 FAQ — up to $1 billion annually to the Texas Water Fund beginning September 1, 2027.
- High Plains Public Radio. "Southwest Kansas farmers talk plans for a major reduction in water use to save Ogallala Aquifer." February 2, 2026 (GMD 3 proposed 25-year LEMA, 27.7 percent reduction).
- Texas State Historical Association / CRMWA. Canadian River Municipal Water Authority water rights acquisitions and Roberts County supply.