Gina and Marc Gigot are the fourth generation to run their family’s western Kansas farm.

The brother-and-sister team took over when their father passed away 10 years ago. They quit their jobs to keep his passion project alive and grow corn on the 9,000-acre property.

Then disappearing groundwater changed everything.

Fifty years ago, Gina Gigot’s father pumped from a groundwater aquifer 80 feet deep to keep his fields irrigated in the Kansas heat and wind. Today, the Gigots must pump from 200 feet to get water. The huge decrease in water levels was a wake-up call.