Americans get about half their water from the surface, and half from groundwater. Groundwater is water that occurs in natural aquifers beneath the surface. The water is actually found within porous soil material. The largest aquifer in America is the Ogalala Aquifer, which runs from Nebraska to Texas. Shortsightedness To understand drought planning, it helps to think about hurricanes.
Hurricanes happen so regularly, they have their own season.
Regions in their path draw up evacuation plans, hospitals hold emergency drills, and coastal areas build retaining walls. In contrast, the Federal government has tended to regard droughts as aberrations of nature. They occur fairly regularly, but continue to take America by surprise, as John Cronin, executive producer of the conservation group, Riverkeeper, recently pointed out. We can avoid much of the pain they cause if we are prepared. That's not news to Albert Peterlin, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief meterologist.