The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) runs a network of real-time streamgages across Kansas with federal, state, tribal and local partners. For water year 2021 — October 2020 through September 2021 — it found conditions generally normal overall, with big swings from place to place and season to season.
Streamflow
Monthly streamflow conditions across Kansas, water year 2021. Image from the USGS fact sheet
| Period | Conditions |
|---|---|
| Start of the year | normal flow over much of the state; below normal or record-low flows in basins mostly in southern Kansas; above normal in part of the Smoky Hill–Saline Basin |
| Through February | below-normal flows lingered in the northwest and southwest; east-central Kansas recovered to normal by January |
| Late winter and spring | rain and snow brought normal to record-high flows to most of the central and east |
| Summer | flows in the southwest and northwest dropped well below normal; part of the Cimarron Basin hit low flow |
| Last quarter | flows rose in the west, mostly to below-normal and normal; the east was mostly normal |
Runoff — streamflow per unit of land — was normal in most months, above normal in January, March and July, and spiked above the 95th percentile in March. For the year, runoff ranked in the 58th percentile — 51st in records going back to 1901.
Monthly and 7-day average runoff, water year 2021. Image from the USGS fact sheet
Cumulative runoff for water year 2021, within the normal range all year. Image from the USGS fact sheet
Rain and drought
As usual, precipitation increased from west to east. Parts of western Kansas and an area of east-central Kansas got more rain than average; much of the rest got average or less.
Normal, observed and departure-from-normal precipitation, water year 2021. Image from the USGS fact sheet
- In early October, about 80% of the state was abnormally dry, and the rest was in moderate, severe or extreme drought.
- Dryness worsened in the northwest by late October but eased in the far south by early November.
- In the west, dry conditions lasted through April.
- By May and June, most of the state was out of drought, apart from two abnormally dry areas in the north-central and south-central regions.
- After June, dryness returned to the northwest corner and a central corridor; by year's end about 50% of Kansas was in some drought category.
Share of Kansas land area in each drought category, water year 2021. Image from the USGS fact sheet
Reservoirs
The USGS tracks water levels and storage in 12 reservoirs.
| Full at the start | five — Milford, Tuttle Creek, Perry, Clinton and Hillsdale lakes |
| Lowest at the start | Cedar Bluff Reservoir, at 63% of its conservation pool |
| Full at the end | nine; below full were Cedar Bluff (59%), HorseThief (95%) and Cheney (90%) |
| Over 150% at some point | Kanopolis, Tuttle Creek, Clinton, Melvern and Pomona lakes |
| Highest peak | Pomona Lake, at 289% of its conservation pool |
Reservoir storage at the start and end of water year 2021, and each reservoir's peak. Image from the USGS fact sheet
Despite the ups and downs, conditions kept most reservoirs at or near full conservation-pool storage.
Sources
Based on Kyle A. Puls, Hydrologic Conditions in Kansas, Water Year 2021, U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2022–3071, using USGS WaterWatch and National Water Information System data, National Weather Service precipitation data and U.S. Drought Monitor data; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from pubs.er.usgs.gov
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