Publications

The principal mission of the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, in Kansas is to investigate the occurrence, quantity, quality, distribution, and movement of surface and groundwater throughout the State. Primary activities include the systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of hydrologic data, evaluation of water demands, and water resources research. Hydrologic

To measure the natural groundwater recharge process, two sites in south-central Kansas were instrumented with sensors and data microloggers. The atmospheric-boundary layer and the unsaturated and saturated soil zones were monitored as a single regime. Direct observations also were used to evaluate the measurements. Atmospheric sensors included an anemometer, a tipping-bucket rain gage...

The High Plains of western Kansas was one of 14 areas selected for preliminary groundwater quality reconnaissance by the U.S. Geological Survey 's Toxic Waste--Groundwater Contamination Program. The specific objective was to evaluate the effects of land used for agriculture (irrigated cropland and non-irrigated rangeland) on the water in the High Plains aquifer. Conceptual inferences...

No abstract available.

The State of Kansas has administered water rights according to an appropriations doctrine since 1945. Water rights are issued by the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources, for eight categories of beneficial use. Water rights data and limited information on reported water use are stored on a computerized State data base; the U.S. Geological Survey cooperates with...

Information on high-flow magnitude and frequency is needed for hydrologic evaluation of such factors as flood-control storage and dam safety. High-flow information given in this report is for streamflows unaffected by major regulation, such as by large reservoirs. High-flow magnitude and frequency data are given for 91 streamflow-gaging stations throughout Kansas. Results of frequency...

Water level measurements are made in 1,892 selected wells in 73 counties, which currently (1985) comprise the Kansas groundwater observation-well network. These measurements are made on a continuous, monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Water level measurements have been made in observation wells since 1937 as part of a cooperative program among the Kansas Geological Survey , the Kansas...

Continuing studies are being made in west-central Kansas to provide up-to-date information that will aid in the management of groundwater for irrigation. The results are presented of the sixth in a series of studies that used a statistical technique called kriging, to produce hydrologic maps. The kriging technique interpolates water level altitudes at the center of each 1 sq mi section...

Data utilized in preparing an interpretive hydrogeologic report on the Dakota aquifer system in Nebraska are summarized. The study area is a 370,000 sq mi area that includes all of Kansas and Nebraska and parts of Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The broad objective for each Regional Aquifer-System analysis (RASA) study is to assemble geologic, hydrologic...

Hydrologic data were compiled for the South-Central hydrogeology study, which covers an area of approximately 5,600 square miles in south-central Nebraska. Data pertain to the groundwater, surface water, climate, land use, and pumpage and precipitation at water use sites in the study area. Groundwater data include water level elevations from three mass measurements of wells and water...

Saline water discharges from the alluvial aquifer into the Smoky Hill and Solomon Rivers between New Cambria and Solomon in central Kansas. Chloride concentrations in the Smoky Hill River sometimes exceed 1,000 mg/L during low flow conditions. The source of saline water is the underlying Wellington aquifer, a zone of halite and gypsum dissolution, subsidence, and collapse along the...

The surface-water resources of the United States, the focal point for this National Water Summary, are extensively developed and managed to provide water supplies, hydroelectric power, navigation, recreational opportunities, and sufficient instream flows to maintain fish and wildlife habitats and adequate water quality. Surface water represents 77 percent of the Nation's total freshwater