The Ozark aquifer, a primary source of water in southwest Missouri, could go dry in places even with slight growth over the next 50 years, according to a report from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Water levels in some parts of the aquifer, which is pumped in parts of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas, have declined 400 to 500 feet since 1960.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —The Kansas Department of Agriculture's water resources division has lifted a six-year moratorium on new permits to draw water from the Ozark aquifer.

An intricate system of basins, channels, and levees called the Headwaters Diversion carries water from the eastern Missouri Ozark Plateau to the Mississippi River south of Cape Girardeau. The ...