Pay heed that the three never wane

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A bank account slowly being drawn down
to produce immense quantities of grain.

Some areas on the aquifer's fringe
are already too depleted for irrigation.

Seeing the trend lines,
farmers in Sheridan County said enough.

They became the first group in the state
to adopt a new conservation tool —
a Local Enhanced Management Area.

The LEMA was locally designed
but came with the force of law.
It bound held
farmers to a 20 percent cut.

Annual groundwater declines of 1.5 to 2 feet
are now a half foot or less.
In some years, the groundwater level
has inched returned.

The well does not know it is being thanked. Only the going back, less thirsty, teaches it anything.