"To the stars through difficulty" is our Kansas State motto. Certainly, the expansive prairies were difficult to traverse. In many early accounts of homesteading the greatest difficulty was finding good water to drink and food that was not spoiled. Without refrigeration or even a ground water cooled cave, food spoiled quickly and people got sick eating it. Stagnant pools of water were too alluring for for thirsty people who had been whipped by dry winds all day. They drank this water without boiling it first, and some even died. Sure, the hardships of establishing a homestead and the dangers of animal and human raiders made life difficult, but the water and food issues remained at the top of the list. Today, the same two concerns face our rural Kansas communities. Haskell County and neighboring Finney County have the greatest drop of ground water levels in Kansas. In the last ten years some wells have declined 30 feet. And the water continues to be depleted. Water issues will remain on the top of our list for years to come. If the water is not available, then the current agricultural practice of using circle irrigation will discontinue. That means that crop production will plummet and and food prices will go up. Will Kansas continue the journey through difficulty and never reach the stars?
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