30 years ago, these Kansas farmers were told to use less water. Here's how they did it

Farmers in the Walnut Creek basin have faced strict restrictions on how much they can water their crops since the early 1990s. Those limits have pushed them to change their methods and their mindsets.
HAYS, Kansas — Trying to cut back on irrigation in western Kansas isn’t a new idea.

More than three decades ago, the state came to farmers in the Walnut Creek basin south of Hays with a mandate. Farmers had to drastically change how much water they used on their crops. Some had to cut irrigation by nearly half.

Roger Mohr, who has grown grain in that area since 1970, remembers the irrigation limits didn’t go over well — at least at first.

“None of us liked that when it happened,” Mohr said. “But we all realized that we had to make changes.”