Altitude and configuration of the water table in the High Plains aquifer of Kansas, pre-1950

The High Plains aquifer in Kansas is a part of a regional system that extends from South Dakota to Texas. The aquifer in Kansas underlies an area of 31,000 square miles in the western and south-central part. The aquifer is a hydraulically connected assemblage of unconsolidated water-bearing deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age. Maps at a scale of 1:500,000 show the altitude and configuration of the water table in Kansas prior to 1950. The water-table maps depict the water-level surface that was present prior to major development of the High Plains aquifer. Ground water moves from higher altitudes in the western part of the High Plains to lower altitudes in the eastern part at an average slope of 10 feet per mile. The upgradient flexure of water-table contours along some of the valleys indicates that ground water is discharged to the streams in those areas.