FAE has highlighted some concerns about ethanol’s water use in the past; here is a study by the Environmental Defense Fund on the issue

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 — PRNewswire-USNewswire — Ethanol and other biofuels have remarkable potential to help fight global warming but have many potential downsides if they’re not produced carefully, according to a new report released today by Environmental Defense.

The report, Potential Impacts of Biofuels Expansion on Natural Resources: A Case Study of the Ogallala Aquifer Region focuses on the Ogallala Aquifer region, a vast expanse of plains across eight states that was the center of the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s. (The report and more information, including maps and state-by-state data, are available at environmentaldefense.org/ogallala)

“The Ogallala Aquifer is a microcosm of the challenges we’ll face in America as we develop renewable fuels,” said Martha Roberts, co-author of the report and a fellow at Environmental Defense. “Nine new ethanol plants are already planned for some of the most water-depleted areas of the Ogallala Aquifer, even though those areas are vulnerable to erosion and the entire region’s water resources are stretched thin.”

The Ogallala is one of the world’s largest aquifers and is an important water source for parts of eight states: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. However, over-pumping has already caused dramatic water table declines in the area. Water demands from new ethanol plants would further strain the aquifer, increasing demand by as much as 2.6 billion gallons a year just to process the corn and produce the fuel. Even worse, another 120 billion gallons a year could be needed for irrigation to grow more corn in the region, and any increased corn production on land that’s now left idle could cause Depression-style dust bowls.