Arkansas River Flows Continuously Across Kansas in 1997

Data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) show that the Arkansas River flowed continuously across Kansas from Colordo to the Oklahoma State line for at least 331 days during the 1997 water year (October 1, 1996 to September 30, 1997). The Arkansas River at Dodge City flowed 341 days during the 1997 water year, the most since 1972.

The river at Garden City, which was dry the entire year in 1992, also flowed 331 days during the 1997 water year. Provisional records show that since September 30, 1997, the Arkansas River at Garden City has flowed 280 of 289 days up to July 16, 1998, and at Dodge City has flowed 289 days (or the entire period). The number of consecutive days of flow at these two locations has increased each year since 1994, probably due to above-normal precipitation and releases from reservoirs in Colorado in 1997. The Arkansas River typically flows continuously from Great Bend to the Oklahoma State line.

The mean monthly streamflow was higher than the long-term median streamflow at many of the gaging stations along the Arkansas River. The mean annual streamflow also was greater than the long-term median at the 12 stations, and with the exception of Dodge City and Kinsley, this trend continued from the 1996 water year. The mean annual streamflow at the Garden City gaging station, 196 cubic feet per second (ft/s), was the highest since 1987 (period of record 1923-69, 1987-97). The mean annual streamflow at Dodge City, 91.6 ft/s also was the highest since 1987 (period of record 1903-06, 1945-97). Annual precipitation during 1997 was 1.60 inches above normal in southwest Kansas and 6.39 inches above normal in south-central Kansas.

As part of a stream-gaging network of nearly 170 complete-record stations on streams and reservoirs in Kansas, the USGS operates streamflow-gaging stations on the Arkansas River. All of the streamflow-gaging stations in Kansas use telemetry equipment, which allows data to be transmitted in near real time to the USGS office in Lawrence. Near real time data for 113 streamflow-gaging stations can be viewed on the USGS Kansas District home page on the World Wide Web at http://ks.water.usgs.gov/.

Many State, local, and Federal cooperators provide funds to operate and maintain the gaging stations. The Kansas Water Office provides funding in support of 8 of the gaging stations on the Arkansas River and more than 60 other gaging stations using State Water Plan funds. The USGS provides matching funds through the Federal-State cooperative program.

Streamflow data for the Arkansas River in Kansas are used to administer the Arkansas River Compacts with Oklahoma and Colorado, supply data for water-right issue management, and for flood-control management. The National Weather Service also uses streamflow data for flood prediction.

Putnam, J.E.,, 1998, Arkansas River flows continuously across Kansas in 1997: Topeka, Kansas, HydroGRAM--Quarterly Journal of the Kansas Water Office, Summer 1998, p. 32-37.

To request a paper copy of this journal article, email: GS-W-KS_info@usgs.gov