Water (under)world.

"We just thought it was going to flow forever." This was the popular belief William Ashworth discovered when he drove across America to uncover the ramifications of the disappearing Ogallala Aquifer. The wellspring, tucked beneath the Great Plains, and holding enough water to fill Lake Erie nine times over, has been the life force of American agriculture since irrigation took hold in the 1950s. Since then, 11 percent of the aquifer has been used up, and depletion now races at three times faster than replenishment. "What will our water-guzzling culture look like when the water is gone?" Ashworth poses.

Ashworth invites the reader on his roadtrip in his book Ogallala Blue (W.W. Norton & Company, $26.95), as he travels through the grasses of Nebraska to the heat of New Mexico, and digs up the dirt about how the shrinking water supply is affecting these towns, and consequently all of us. Each section explores a town, community or farm whose life has been or will be affected by the decline of available water. Whether it's water woes or harsh economics that are driving people away from rural places, Ashworth paints heart-breaking portraits of life on the High Plains.