Lack of water has a lasting effect on Kansas and Texas. The water available of fresh water is declining sharply as competition over water resources depletes groundwater. ... read more >>

Raising crops without irrigation is far cheaper, but yields are far lower. Drought is a constant threat: the last two dry-land harvests were all but wiped out by poor rains.

A few miles west of Mr. Yost’s farm, Nathan Kells cut back on irrigation when his wells began to falter in the last decade and shifted his focus to raising dairy heifers — 9,000 on that farm, and thousands more elsewhere. ... read more >>

Although the great majority of sinkholes are less imposing than the monsters that make the news, addressing the problems they pose requires careful consideration and a different approach in each situation, says structural engineer Bill Bracken of Bracken Engineering in Tampa, Fla. Geologists first evaluate the underlying soil problems before the structural engineer takes over. "I don't focus on w ... read more >>