Mason County doesn't have a scarcity of water. In fact, in some places, it has too much.

That's because of the Mahomet Aquifer, an underground body of water that lies below Mason County and over 1 million acres across east and ce

Mason County doesn't have a scarcity of water. In fact, in some places, it has too much.

That's because of the Mahomet Aquifer, an underground body of water that lies below Mason County and over 1 million acres across east and central Illinois. With the abundant preciption of recent years, some of that aquifer isn't below ground at all, but above it.

"As it steadily crept upward, (the aquifer) began to change fields into large ponds and those ponds have been around for a few years," said Matt Montgomery, director of the University of Illinois Extension Office for Mason County from his office in Havana.

"It depends on where you are in the county. In some places, the aquifer is ebbing down but it's still a problem for quite a few people," he said.

While the aquifer has been on display in some parts of Mason County in recent years, benefits outweigh the problems, said Dee Dee Gellerman, manager of the Mason County Farm Bureau.

"The aquifer makes irrigation possible. With our sandy soil, that's critical," she said of the importance of having an ample supply of water in the area.

Mason County and southern portions of Tazewell County have been promoted as the "Imperial Valley" of the Midwest because of the variety of crops grown there. Some of these include sweet corn, soybeans, snap beans, potatoes, popcorn, peas, pumpkins, watermelons and cantaloupe.

"The Mahomet Aquifer is unique. It extends from the Illinois-Indiana border to the Illinois River, underlying 15 counties," said Worth Smith, a member of the Imperial Valley Water Authority and the Mahomet Aquifer Consortium, a group formed in 1999 to develop plans for the use and preservation of the aquifer.

"People ask me if there's a problem with the aquifer. When I tell them there isn't, they ask why we need a committee. I explain because we don't want a problem," he said.

"Central Illinois is very fortunate. The aquifer recharges very rapidly. For the next 50 years, we've got an adequate water supply that will meet all our needs," said Smith.

As for the aquifer that's bubbled to the surface in parts of the county, both Smith and Gellerman say that time will tell of its impact on yields. "We're still a month or two from the start of the planting season for many crops, although some peas were planted last week," said Gellerman.

Smith noted that it takes time for the aquifer to recede from flooded fields. "If we have a wet spring, it could be a problem," he said.

Steve Tarter can be reached at 686-3260 or starter@pjstar.com.