True, and not just talking about water. All aspects of "conventional" farming (aquifer pumping, mined fertilizers, fossil fuel-derived pesticides, diesel, etc) are by their nature only temporary solutions.
The start of a sustainable water management strategy might be P.A. Yeoman's Water For Every Farm[1], basically designing around land topology to harvest and store/infiltrate rainwater. Modern agriculture shunts rainwater off the land as fast as possible, maximizing runoff so that tractors can drive on it sooner.
True, and not just talking about water. All aspects of "conventional" farming (aquifer pumping, mined fertilizers, fossil fuel-derived pesticides, diesel, etc) are by their nature only temporary solutions.
The start of a sustainable water management strategy might be P.A. Yeoman's Water For Every Farm[1], basically designing around land topology to harvest and store/infiltrate rainwater. Modern agriculture shunts rainwater off the land as fast as possible, maximizing runoff so that tractors can drive on it sooner.
Here's P.A. Yeoman's strategy (in cheesy 1950s educational video style): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE-tJLQDZT4
[1]https://www.amazon.com/Water-For-Every-Farm-Yeomans/dp/14382...