Kansas Water Science Center
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Highlights
Equus Beds Groundwater Quantity Substantial pumping of the Equus Beds Aquifer began in September 1940 resulting in a gradual decrease of the aquifer’s water level. Water-level declines, of up to 40 feet in some areas, occurred by October of 1992 as a result of increased city and agricultural pumpage and the 1988-92 drought. The water level declines resulted in a loss of storage of almost 300,000 acre feet that was no longer available for water supply. This loss of storage and the trend in water level decline and loss of storage prompted the City of Wichita to reduce pumpage of the Eqqus Beds aquifer and initiate the Equus Beds aquifer Recharge Demonstration Project to test the feasibility of augmenting the storage in the aquifer. Between January 1993 and January 2011, water levels recovered 14 feet or more in part of the study area (http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3192/). Decreased city pumpage, because of increasing reliance by Wichita on Cheney Reservoir as a water-supply source, as well as normal to wetter-than-normal rainfall conditions, were the primary reasons for the water-level recoveries. The aquifer’s storage volume recovered by 59 percent during the same period while water levels in many wells recovered to levels similar to those in the 1970s. Artificial recharge with the demonstration project and phase I (since 2007) contributed a minor amount to the recovery to date, although the capacity of phase I and II will have a greater future effect and will help counter the overappropriation of the aquifer; permitted water withdrawals for irrigation and city use exceed sustainable yield. Changes in Groundwater Levels and Storage in the Equus Beds Aquifer, Northwest of Wichita, Kansas
Water Level, Continuous data and Historical Groundwater-level links for the Equus Beds Aquifer
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: /studies/equus/groundwater-quantity.html
Page Contact Information: GS-W-KS_info@usgs.gov
Page Last Modified:Tuesday, 15-May-2012 15:59:02 CDT
The USGS has collected hydrologic information in Kansas since 1895 with the first USGS Cooperative
Water Program funding agreement for 6 streamflow gages with the Kansas Water Board. USGS collects streamflow
and gage-height data; reservoir content; water-quality and water-quantity data; suspended-sediment data;
and groundwater levels. Hydrologic studies are conducted on national, regional, statewide, and local levels.
The USGS in Kansas works cooperatively with 31 Federal, State, and local agencies, such as the Kansas Water Office, the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers, and the City of Wichita 
