Kansas
Welcome to the Midcontinent Region! Our region includes 18 Science Centers in 11 States from the Great Lakes to the Dakotas. Our streamgage network is used to monitor and assess water resources across the region. Other research focuses on fisheries and aquatic ecosystems, midcontinental plant/animal species, invasive species, wildlife disease, and energy and mining.
News
Central Plains Water Science Center Quarterly Newsletter - March 2025
Central Plains Water Science Center Quarterly Newsletter - March 2025
USGS invests $3.8 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to map critical minerals across the Ozark Plateau
USGS invests $3.8 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to map critical minerals across the Ozark Plateau
Kansas Water Science Center Quarterly Newsletter - January 2025
Kansas Water Science Center Quarterly Newsletter - January 2025
Publications
Patterns of water-extractable soil organic matter in the US Great Plains: Insights from the Haas Soil Archive
Novel approaches that are fast and sensitive are needed to evaluate soil change and integrate soil ecosystem properties. Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) extracted from soil with water are associated with plant nutrients and microbial activity but information about change over time in the US Great Plains is sparse. We used cool (20°C) and hot (80°C) water extracts from historic (1947) and...
Understanding predator-prey-competitor dynamics between Lower Missouri River Macrhybopsis and Scaphirhynchus using a population—bioenergetics model ensemble
The pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus is a long-lived, endangered fish in the Missouri River. Individuals become piscivorous as adults, so recruitment from stocking or reproduction could reduce populations of prey, including Macrhybopsis chubs. We constructed an individual- and age-based, multi-species, predator-prey-competitor model (IAMP) to represent the benthic community...
Estimating agricultural irrigation water consumption for the High Plains aquifer region with integrated energy- and water-balance evapotranspiration modeling approaches
Estimation of irrigation water use provides essential information for the management and conservation of agricultural water resources. Conventionally, water use data are created based on reports and surveys from water users, whereas manual records may not be complete due to lacking flow meters, measurement gaps, inconsistent methods across regions, and time- and cost-consuming data...
Science
Equus Beds Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Project
The water supply for the city of Wichita, south-central Kansas, currently comes from the Equus Beds aquifer and Cheney Reservoir. Because these sources are not expected to meet projected city water needs into the 21st century (Warren and others, 1995), artificial recharge of the Equus Beds aquifer was investigated as one alternative to meet future water-supply demands. An additional potential...
North American Waterfowl Management Plan
The North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) represents the foundational and successful effort to manage waterfowl and migratory bird in North America. Continued success of NAWMP depends on maintaining relevance to partners and society over time. Social science research supports NAWMP by providing a better understanding of what people value regarding waterfowl and their habitats.
Conservation Practices in Agriculturally Dominated Landscapes
Agricultural land use accounts for over 50 percent of the surface area of the contiguous United States. How these lands are managed has direct and indirect implications for wildlife, water quality, and air quality in terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems locally and far beyond their extent. This project is focused on ways to greater maximize the potential of the US Department of Agriculture...