USGS streamgage 07182260, Cottonwood River at Emporia, Kansas. Photograph by Arin Peters, October 23, 2013.
Kansas's monitoring network
The USGS Kansas Water Science Center, with federal, state and local partners, runs a long-term network of:
- 206 real-time streamgages
- 12 real-time reservoir-level stations
- 32 groundwater monitoring wells
USGS hydrographers check the real-time data through the year with field measurements. Each water year (October 1 to September 30, named for the year it ends in) is compared with the whole historical record. The data help protect life and property and manage water for farms, industry, public supply, ecosystems and recreation.
Precipitation
For the third time in four water years, Kansas got below-average precipitation.
- Driest, relative to normal: the southeast, south-central, and the far southwest along the Colorado border.
- Western and northwestern Kansas got above-normal precipitation.
Percent of normal (1981–2010) precipitation, water year 2014. Data from NOAA.
Drought: wider but milder
The rain fell where drought had been worst, so severe drought eased even as dry conditions spread.
| Share of Kansas | Start of WY 2014 | End of WY 2014 |
|---|---|---|
| No drought or dryness | 46.1% | 18.5% |
| Abnormally dry or worse | 53.9% | 81.5% |
| Moderate drought or worse | 40.3% | 49.1% |
| Severe drought or worse | 31.9% | 19.5% |
| Extreme drought | 3.96% | 2.37% |
| Exceptional drought | 0 | 0 |
That continued a recovery from the peak in August 2012, when more than 95% of the state was in extreme drought.
Drought at the beginning and end of water year 2014. Data from the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Streamflow and runoff
Streamflow was mostly normal. The northwest and south-central began the year below normal, but above-average rain in the west raised flows, and by year's end nearly the whole state was normal. The exception: the Missouri River Basin in the northeast ran much above normal at year's end.
Streamflow conditions at the beginning and end of water year 2014, from USGS WaterWatch.
Runoff was very low. Runoff — streamflow per unit of area — was the third lowest in 47 years statewide. Quarterly maps show an east–west divide: the west was below or much below normal most of the year, with some of the lowest percentiles since 1940, while the east was mostly normal or below normal.
Why low runoff despite more rain in the west? Water that soaks into the ground or is held in reservoirs does not leave the basin. Recharge of groundwater and refilling of reservoirs likely absorbed the extra rain.
Quarterly runoff percentiles by drainage basin, water year 2014, from USGS WaterWatch.
Reservoirs
- 9 of the 12 reservoirs the USGS monitors gained water during the year — refilling after years of drought.
- Water held back in reservoirs is water not released downstream. The storage gained, 29,900 acre-feet, equaled 0.26% of the state's median annual runoff of 10.7 million acre-feet — one reason runoff was so low.
| Reservoir | Change in storage (acre-feet) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Milford Lake | 5,000 | 1.25 |
| Cedar Bluff Reservoir | 6,900 | 12.2 |
| Kanopolis Lake | 3,900 | 7.08 |
| Wilson Lake | −19,000 | −9.74 |
| Tuttle Creek Lake | 17,000 | 6.05 |
| Perry Lake | 16,000 | 7.66 |
| Clinton Lake | 17,100 | 18.0 |
| Melvern Lake | 10,000 | 7.46 |
| Pomona Lake | 0 | 0 |
| Hillsdale Lake | 4,100 | 5.96 |
| Horsethief Reservoir | 930 | 78.2 |
| Cheney Reservoir | −8,000 | −4.85 |
| Total, as reported | 29,900 | 3.15 |
Clinton Lake's record low
Clinton Lake, near Lawrence, fell to a record low of 870.99 feet on April 10, 2014 — its lowest since it was first filled in 1981. Heavier rain later in the year, especially in June, refilled it above its conservation pool — the range within which water can be released freely for downstream use, and so the level the reservoir needs to do its job.
Clinton Lake water-surface elevation, water years 2013–14, with the conservation pool elevation and the previous record low. USGS.
Four streams, four stories
Comparing each gage's 7-day average flow with its historical percentiles shows how conditions differed around the state.
| Gage | Where | Drainage area | Water years 2013–14 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06873000 South Fork Solomon River above Webster Reservoir | northwest | 1,040 sq mi | below normal through most of WY 2013 and early 2014 from severe drought; normal to above normal after rain in the second half of 2014 — typical of the northwest |
| 06889200 Soldier Creek near Delia | northeast | about 290 sq mi | several record-low 7-day averages early in WY 2013; normal to below normal by April 2013; no record lows and few much-below-normal days in 2014, as drought was mild or absent in the northeast |
| 07157500 Crooked Creek near Englewood | southwest | 1,157 sq mi; in service 71 years | mostly much below normal in WY 2013, setting or tying record lows, and much of 2014; normal after early-summer rain, like the rest of the southwest |
| 07183500 Neosho River near Parsons | southeast | more than 5,000 sq mi | swung between much above and much below normal but was mostly normal; despite below-normal rain, drought stayed mild |
Streamflow at the four gages, water years 2013–14. A, South Fork Solomon River; B, Soldier Creek; C, Crooked Creek; D, Neosho River. USGS.
Drainage basins, streamgages and reservoirs, water year 2014. Base from the USGS National Elevation Dataset.
Summary
- Drought kept easing from its worst, in summer 2012. Most of the state stayed at least abnormally dry, but severe drought shrank, thanks to above-normal rain in the north and west.
- In the east, rain was below normal but enough to raise most major reservoirs.
- Water captured by aquifers, reservoirs and other impoundments, in a year of below-normal rain, left Kansas with its third-lowest statewide runoff in 47 years.
Sources
Based on Andrew L. Robison, "Summary of hydrologic conditions in Kansas, water year 2014," U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2015–3027 (2015); a work of the United States government in the public domain. The photograph, maps, graphs and tables are taken from the fact sheet's PDF. The reservoir changes listed in its table do not add up to the total it gives; the total is shown as published.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from pubs.usgs.gov
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