 In other areas, such as parts of eastern and central Nebraska and of the region south of Lubbock, Texas, water levels have risen since 1980.The center-pivot irrigator was described as the "villain" in a "New York Times" article, "Wells Dry, Fertile Plains Turn to Dust" recounting the relentless decline of parts of the Ogallala Aquifer.Sixty years of intensive farming using huge center-pivot irrigators has emptied parts of the High Plains Aquifer.