LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Little use is being made of a law that allows farmers to form groups that can require deep reductions in irrigation.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the hope was that if enough western Kansas farmers pared their water use, the aquifer’s lifespan could be extended.

But two years later, only one group of 110 farmers, who own 99 square miles in Sheridan and Thomas counties near Colby, has formed.

Kansas Water Office director Tracy Streeter says there were expectations of the program “catching on like wildfire.”

But Haskell County farmer Jay Garetson says farmers were never going to cut their use of water without mandates because it could harm them economically in the short term. Garetson has sued an oil and gas company for not conserving water.