@article{2f1c3ac3fe79455899e0d69b7d2f6f92,
title = "Using Satellite Imagery to Examine the Relationship between Surface-Water Dynamics of the Salt Lakes of Western Texas and Ogallala Aquifer Depletion",
abstract = "We used Landsat imagery to examine surface-water dynamics over the past 27 years in 39 salt lakes (salinas) of the Southern High Plains of the U.S. These groundwater- and precipitation-fed wetlands are regionally unique habitats with high salt concentrations and halophytic biota that may be vulnerable to hydrological changes from groundwater extraction for agriculture coupled with drought. We documented amounts and occurrences of water within the 39 salinas, comparing summer and winter (representing periods of high and low groundwater demand, respectively) in 1986–2013. During this span in our study area, total and irrigated cropland acreage increased, and the saturated thickness of the Ogallala Aquifer decreased by ~18.3%. There was variation in inundation frequency by salina, with two never holding water during our study. A third of the salinas went dry at least once, slightly more in summer than winter. Occurrence of water was not simply a function of basin size or to depth to the aquifer. These wetlands are being impacted by human changes to the landscape that are diminishing groundwater inputs, effectively creating novel wetlands that are now primarily supplied by precipitation rather than groundwater, with altered hydrological and ecological traits that may exacerbate regional vulnerability to climate change.",
keywords = "Agriculture, Groundwater, High Plains Aquifer, Irrigation, Ogallala Aquifer, Salina, Salt playa",
author = "Heintzman, {L. J.} and Starr, {S. M.} and Mulligan, {K. R.} and Barbato, {L. S.} and McIntyre, {N. E.}",
note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements We are grateful for funding from the National Science Foundation{\textquoteright}s Macrosystems Biology grant 1340548 (BCollaborative Research: Climatic and Anthropogenic Forcing of Wetland Landscape Connectivity in the Great Plains^), the National Science Foundation{\textquoteright}s Proactive Recruitment in Introductory Science and Mathematics (NSF-PRISM) grant 1035096 (BRMR-TTU: Recruitment, Mentoring, and Research in Mathematics and Science at Texas Tech University^). LJH was funded in part by an Elo and Olga Urbanovsky Assistantship, and SMS was funded in part by a Water Conservation Research Fellowship, The CH Foundation, and a Texas Tech University Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship. We thank Caroline Claassen (NSF-PRISM Scholar, Dept. Mathematics and Statistics, Texas Tech University) for assistance in image processing. Comments from two anonymous reviewers improved the manuscript. Funding Information: We are grateful for funding from the National Science Foundation?s Macrosystems Biology grant 1340548 (?Collaborative Research: Climatic and Anthropogenic Forcing of Wetland Landscape Connectivity in the Great Plains?), the National Science Foundation?s Proactive Recruitment in Introductory Science and Mathematics (NSF-PRISM) grant 1035096 (?RMR-TTU: Recruitment, Mentoring, and Research in Mathematics and Science at Texas Tech University?). LJH was funded in part by an Elo and Olga Urbanovsky Assistantship, and SMS was funded in part by a Water Conservation Research Fellowship, The CH Foundation, and a Texas Tech University Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship. We thank Caroline Claassen (NSF-PRISM Scholar, Dept. Mathematics and Statistics, Texas Tech University) for assistance in image processing. Comments from two anonymous reviewers improved the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017, Society of Wetland Scientists.",
year = "2017",
month = dec,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1007/s13157-017-0940-2",
language = "English",
volume = "37",
pages = "1055--1065",
journal = "Wetlands",
issn = "0277-5212",
number = "6",
}