WATER USE IN KANSAS, 1990 AND 1995

Prepared in cooperation with the

KANSAS WATER OFFICE

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Fact Sheet FS–090-–99

April 1999

—By Joan F. Kenny

 This fact sheet illustrates comparative 

water use from ground and surface 

sources for 1990 and 1995 for the largest 

categories of use in Kansas: public 

supply, irrigation, industrial and mining, 

livestock, and thermoelectric power 

generation. Total populations, including 

those served by public-water suppliers 

and those using private wells, also are 

illustrated. These data are organized by 

major river basin to provide perspective 

on trends in water use among geographic 

areas in Kansas. This fact sheet is 

produced as part of an ongoing 

cooperative study with the Kansas Water 

Office and is supported in part by the 

Kansas State Water Plan Fund.

Introduction

 Information on amounts of water used 

in Kansas is collected and used for many 

purposes. The Kansas Department of 

Agriculture-Division of Water Resources 

(DWR) requires annual reporting of water 

use by those users with water rights; this 

information is used to establish and 

enforce water appropriations. The Kansas 

Water Office (KWO) requires annual 

reporting of water use by public-water 

suppliers who purchase water through the 

Water Marketing Program. KWO uses 

water data in its planning and coordination activities, including the Water 

Marketing Program, Multipurpose Small 

Lakes Program, regional water-supply 

planning, basin assessments, and 

population and water-demand projections. 

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 

assists these State agencies with water-use 

data collection, evaluation, and publication. Together, these three agencies 

maintain data bases with site-specific 

information on water use in Kansas.

 Since the late 1980's, the State has 

published annual reports entitled Kansas 

Municipal Water Use and Kansas 

Irrigation Water Use using the data 

evaluated for the two largest categories of 

use. The USGS provides comprehensive 

data on all categories of water use to the 

National Water-Use Information Program, 

which publishes a report every 5 years 

entitled Estimated Use of Water in the 

United States. Data for most categories of 

use documented by USGS are compiled 

using site-specific information reported to 

the State. This information is then aggregated by county and hydrologic unit.

 The population and water-use data 

presented in this fact sheet are from the 

two most-recent 5-year intervals compiled 

for the USGS data base. The data were 

aggregated by the 12 major river basins in 

Kansas (fig. 1), which coincide with 

hydrologic-unit boundaries and are the 

planning units used by the KWO. 

Population distribution, the availability of 

ground and surface water, and the degree 

of urban, industrial, and agricultural 

activities vary considerably among the 

basins. Most of the ground-water 

supplies, irrigated agriculture, and large 

livestock operations are located in the 

western part of the State. Large population centers, surface-water supplies, 

and water uses associated with industry, 

mining, and power generation are more 

common in the south-central and eastern 

parts of the State. Categories of water use 

discussed in this fact sheet are: public 

supply, irrigation, industrial and mining, 

livestock, and thermoelectric power 

generation. Data presented for these 

categories consist of total withdrawals in 

1990 and 1995, which include both 

consumptive and nonconsumptive use. 

Smaller water-use categories for which 

data are collected but not illustrated in 

this report include rural self-supplied 

domestic, self-supplied commercial, and 

hydroelectric power generation. 

Population

 Population served by public-water 

suppliers and rural population using selfsupplied ground water in 1990 and 1995 

are shown in figure 2 for the 12 basins. 

The total population of Kansas increased 

by about 3.5 percent between 1990 and 

1995 (U.S. Bureau of Census, 1991, 

1996). During that period, population 

served by public-water supply systems 

increased from 2,228,000 to 2,323,000, 

whereas the self-supplied rural population 

decreased from 250,000 to 242,000. 

 Total population using ground water is 

approximately equal to the total population using surface water in Kansas. 

However, most basins have a predominant 

source of public-supply water. All of the 

population in the Upper Arkansas and 

Cimarron Basins and the majority of the 

Figure 1. Major river basins in Kansas.

Basin abbreviation used in figures 2–6

Approximate eastern extent of High Plains aquifer

EXPLANATION

SF

R

Creek

Beaver

Sappa Cr

North Fork

South Fork

Saline River

Smoky Hill

Smoky

River

Whitewoman

ARKANSAS RIVER

Cimarron

Walnut

River

North

Fork

North Fork

South Fork

RIVER

Little

River

Walnut

River

River

Neosho

River

Marais

des Cygnes

River

Solomon

Hill

River

Creek

Creek

SF Repu blican

Ninnescah River

Arkansas

ARKANSAS

MISSOUR I RIVER

Republican

KANSAS RIVER

Verdigris

Upper

Republican

(UREP) Solomon (SOL)

Smoky Hill-Saline (SHS)

Upper Arkansas

(UARK)

Cimarron

(CIM) Lower Arkansas

(LARK)

(LARK)

Verdigris

(VER)

Walnut

(WAL)

Neosho

(NEO)

Marais des 

 Cygnes

 (MDC)

Kansas-Lower

Republican (KLR)

Missouri

(MO)

Wichita

Topeka

Garden

City

Hays

Kansas City
population in the Upper Republican, 

Solomon, Smoky Hill-Saline, and Lower 

Arkansas Basins use ground water; much 

of that water is obtained from the areally 

extensive High Plains aquifer (fig. 1). 

Most of the population in the Walnut, 

Verdigris, Neosho, Marais des Cygnes, 

and Kansas-Lower Republican Basins 

uses surface water. In the Missouri Basin, 

approximately equal numbers of people 

use surface and ground water. 

 The largest number of people served 

by public-water suppliers is in the 

Kansas-Lower Republican Basin. The 

population served by surface water in that 

basin increased by nearly 8 percent 

between 1990 and 1995, primarily due to 

growth in urban areas using water 

supplies from the Kansas River and 

Federal reservoirs. Small decreases in 

population served by public-water 

suppliers occurred in the Upper Republican, Solomon, and Verdigris River 

Basins during that period. 

 The largest rural self-supplied populations are those in the Lower Arkansas, 

Walnut, Kansas-Lower Republican, 

Upper Arkansas, and Smoky Hill-Saline 

Basins. In the Upper Republican and 

Walnut Basins, the rural self-supplied 

population represents at least 25 percent 

of the total population.

Public Supply

 Public supply represents about 

9 percent of total annual nonpowerrelated water withdrawals in Kansas. This 

category includes water supplied by 

public or private utilities for residential, 

commercial, industrial, and public use, in 

addition to system losses. Public-water 

suppliers include cities, towns, rural water 

districts, mobile home parks, and housing 

subdivisions. The majority of the data 

used to document public-water supply use 

in 1990 and 1995 was derived from 

annual reports submitted to DWR or 

KWO.

 Amounts of water withdrawn in 1990 

and 1995 by public-water suppliers in 

Kansas are illustrated in figure 3. Ground 

water is the predominant source of supply 

in the six western basins, whereas surface 

water is the predominant source of supply 

in the six eastern basins. The largest 

volumes of water for public supply, nearly 

100 million gallons per day (Mgal/d), 

were withdrawn in the Kansas-Lower 

Republican Basin in 1995 and in the 

Lower Arkansas Basin in 1990. 

 Total public-supply withdrawals were 

less in 1995 than in 1990 for each of the 

western basins except the Cimarron; these 

differences are attributable to drier 

weather conditions in 1990. Public-supply 

withdrawals in the Lower Arkansas Basin 

were almost 10 Mgal/d less in 1995 than 

in 1990 due to a decrease in ground-water 

pumpage. The city of Wichita alone 

withdrew 7 Mgal/d less from its well field 

(north of the city in the Equus Beds 

aquifer) in 1995 than in 1990 due to less 

overall demand and increased reliance on 

its surface-water supply in Cheney 

Reservoir (west of the city). 

 Total public-supply withdrawals were 

greater in 1995 than in 1990 in each of the 

six eastern basins; these differences are 

attributable to population increases. 

Surface-water withdrawals in 1995 in the 

Missouri Basin were 10 Mgal/d larger 

than in 1990 due to increased withdrawals 

of water from the Missouri River by 

Johnson County Water District No. 1. 

This utility currently (1999) withdraws 

about one-half of its supply from the 

Missouri Basin; however, nearly all of the 

population served is located in the 

Kansas-Lower Republican River Basin 

(near Kansas City).

Irrigation

 The irrigation category includes water 

used for growing crops and represents the 

largest use of water in Kansas. About 

87 percent of total annual nonpowerrelated water withdrawals are for 

irrigation. Irrigation water-use data for 

1990 and 1995 were derived from 

information reported to DWR. Irrigation 

water is withdrawn from approximately 

30,000 points of diversion, including 

Figure 2. Populations served by surface- and ground-water sources and self-supplied rural 

populations, 1990 and 1995.

Figure 3. Public-supply withdrawals, 1990 and 1995.

0

120

20

40

60

80

100

Public-supply withdrawals, in million gallons per day

1990 surface water

1990 ground water

1995 surface water

1995 ground water

UREP

SOL

SHS

UARK

CIM

LARK

WAL

VER

NEO

MDC

KLR

MO

Major river basins (fig. 1)

0

1,000

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

UREP

SOL

SHS

UARK

CIM

LARK

WAL

VER

NEO

MDC

KLR

MO

Population, in thousands

1990 population served

by surface water

1995 population served

by surface water

1990 population served

by ground water 1995 population served

by ground water

1990 self-supplied

rural population

1995 self-supplied

rural population

Major river basins (fig. 1)
wells, streams, and canals. More than

90 percent of irrigation withdrawals are 

from ground water. 

 Irrigation withdrawals from ground 

and surface sources in 1990 and 1995 are 

illustrated in figure 4. Most of the ground 

water available for large-scale irrigation is 

located in the six western basins, which 

include areas underlain by the High Plains 

aquifer. The largest ground-water withdrawals for irrigation are in the Upper 

Arkansas and Cimarron Basins where the 

greatest aquifer saturated thickness and 

numbers of irrigation systems occur. Most 

of the surface-water use for irrigation in 

Kansas occurs within irrigation districts 

that deliver water to farms through canals.

 All basins where irrigation is a 

significant use of water showed less use 

in 1995 compared to 1990. Statewide, 

about 21 percent less ground water was 

used for irrigation in 1995 than was used 

in 1990 when drier weather conditions 

prevailed. Statewide, about 15 percent 

more surface water was used for irrigation 

in 1995 than in 1990. More water was 

delivered through irrigation districts in the 

Upper Arkansas and Solomon Basins in 

1995 than in 1990 due to greater 

availability of water in the rivers and 

reservoirs supplying those districts. 

However, less surface water was used 

from irrigation districts in the KansasLower Republican Basin in 1995 than in 

1990. 

Industrial and Mining

 Combined withdrawals for the 

industrial and mining categories represent 

about 2 percent of total annual nonpowerrelated withdrawals in Kansas. Industrial 

water use includes water used for manufacturing; production of salt, fertilizer, 

chemicals, and food; and petroleum 

refining. Mining water use includes 

processes associated with coal, oil, and 

gas production; quarrying; and sand and 

gravel operations. Industrial and mining 

water-use data for 1990 and 1995 were 

derived from information reported to 

DWR. 

 Ground- and surface-water withdrawals for industrial and mining use in 

1990 and 1995 are shown in figure 5. 

More than 80 percent of the water used 

for these categories is ground water. 

Surface-water withdrawals primarily are 

related to the production of sand and 

gravel. Total use is greatest in the Lower 

Arkansas Basin due to large withdrawals 

for salt production, sand and gravel 

operations, and manufacture of aircraft, 

paperboard, and chemicals. Substantial 

amounts of water for industrial and 

mining uses also are withdrawn in the 

Kansas-Lower Republican Basin, especially for production of construction aggregates. 

 In most basins, less ground water was 

reported for the industrial and mining 

categories in 1995 than in 1990 because 

several large oil and gas producers were 

no longer active. In the Upper Arkansas 

and Cimarron Basins, larger industrial 

withdrawals in 1995 reflect increased 

water use for meat-packing plants and 

ethanol production. 

 The substantial increase in reported 

surface water used in 1995, particularly in 

the Lower Arkansas and Kansas-Lower 

Republican Basins, is for sand and gravel 

production. In 1990, dredging operations 

were not yet required to have water rights. 

By 1995, rights were mandatory, and 

more usage was reported. The withdrawal 

amounts shown are largely nonconsumptive; only the water evaporated from pits 

is not returned to the streams.

Livestock

 Livestock water use represents about 

2 percent of total annual nonpowerrelated withdrawals in Kansas. Livestock 

use includes water for raising beef and 

dairy cattle, sheep, hogs, and poultry, both 

at large feedlots and on small farms. 

Usage for these animals was determined 

from annual livestock statistics published 

by the Kansas Department of Agriculture 

and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

along with per-head water-use coefficients used by the State. Livestock use 

Figure 5. Industrial and mining withdrawals, 1990 and 1995.

Figure 4. Irrigation withdrawals, 1990 and 1995.

0

40

10

20

30

Industrial and mining withdrawals,

in million gallons per day

1990 surface water

1990 ground water

1995 surface water

1995 ground water

UREP

SOL

SHS

UARK

CIM

LARK

WAL

VER

NEO

MDC

KLR

MO

Major river basins (fig. 1)

Irrigation withdrawals, in million gallons per day

0

1,400

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200 1990

surface water

1990

ground water

1995 surface water

1995 ground water

MO

UREP

SOLSHS

UARK

CIM

LARK

WAL

VER

NEO

MDC

KLR

Major river basins (fig. 1)
References

Kansas Department of Agriculture and U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, 1990 and 

1995, Kansas farm facts: Topeka, 

Kansas (published annually).

Kansas Water Office and Kansas Department of Agriculture–Division of Water 

Resources, (published annually), 

Kansas municipal water use: Topeka, 

Kansas.

———(published annually), Kansas 

irrigation water use: Topeka, Kansas.

Solley, W.B., Pierce, R.R., and Perlman, 

H.A., 1993, Estimated use of water in 

the United States in 1990: U.S. 

Geological Survey Circular 1081, 76 p.

———1998, Estimated use of water in the 

United States in 1995: U.S. Geological 

Survey Circular 1200, 71 p.

U.S. Bureau of Census, 1991, Census of 

population and housing, 1990: 

PUBLIC LAW (P.L.) 94–171 data 

Kansas [machine-readable data files]: 

Prepared by the Bureau of Census, 

Washington, D.C. 

—-——1996, Census of population and 

housing, 1995: PUBLIC LAW (P.L.) 

94–171 data Kansas [machine-readable 

data files]: Prepared by the Bureau of 

Census, Washington, D.C.

includes water use associated with fish 

farming. Fish-farm water use and sources 

for 1990 and 1995 were derived from data 

reported to DWR.

 Livestock water withdrawals in 1990 

and 1995 are illustrated in figure 6. The 

largest quantities of water were withdrawn in the basins in southwestern 

Kansas and in the Kansas-Lower Republican Basin. These are the areas in which 

confined animal feeding operations are 

most prevalent. More than 99 percent of 

the water used at large feedlots throughout Kansas is ground water. Stock ponds 

are a common source of supply for 

smaller livestock operations, especially in 

eastern Kansas. 

 In 9 of the 12 basins, more water was 

used for livestock in 1995 than in 1990. 

Substantial increases in the Upper 

Arkansas and Cimarron Basins reflect 

larger numbers of beef cattle, milk cows, 

and hogs produced in southwestern 

Kansas in 1995. Statewide, more cattle 

were produced in 1995 than in 1990, 

while numbers of other types of livestock 

decreased.

 Water use for fish farms represented 

about 5 percent of total livestock withdrawals in 1990, but only about 2 percent 

in 1995. The decline in fish-farm water 

use is due to several large users in the 

Lower Arkansas and Kansas-Lower 

Republican Basins that had either 

curtailed water use and production by 

1995 or were out of business entirely.

Thermoelectric Power Generation

 Water withdrawn for thermoelectric 

power generation represents the second 

largest category (after irrigation) of use in 

Kansas. More than 95 percent of the 

water withdrawn for thermoelectric power 

generation is nonconsumptively used and 

is returned to the environment or re-used 

after cooling. Water use at 25 powerplants 

with their own source of water is reported 

annually to DWR. All but one of these 

powerplants burns fossil fuel; there is one 

nuclear powerplant in the Neosho Basin.

 Because of the uneven distribution of 

power-generation water use among 

Kansas basins and the nonconsumptive 

nature of this category of use, withdrawals for thermoelectric power generation during 1990 and 1995 are not 

illustrated in this fact sheet. During each 

of these 2 years, nearly 1,300 Mgal/d 

were withdrawn for power generation; 

99 percent was from surface-water 

sources in the Neosho, Marais des 

Cygnes, Kansas-Lower Republican, and 

Missouri Basins. Minor amounts of 

ground water were withdrawn for 

powerplants in the Upper Arkansas, 

Cimarron, Lower Arkansas, and KansasLower Republican Basins.

Summary

 Continued collection, analysis, and 

publication of water-use data for various 

types of use in Kansas are important in 

managing water rights and understanding 

water demands. Presentation of population and water-use data by major river 

basin for 1990 and 1995 is one way of 

showing geographic and temporal 

differences among various types of water 

use in Kansas. Some of the variation 

between 1990 and 1995 data is indicative 

of trends, such as population growth and 

increased public-water-supply usage in 

the eastern six basins. Increases in 

amounts of water used for industrial and 

livestock uses reflect growth in meatpacking industries and construction of 

more confined animal feeding operations 

in the southwestern basins. 

 Other differences in water use between 

1990 and 1995 are related to weather 

conditions in particular years rather than 

trends. In the western six basins where 

population growth was not accompanied 

by increases in public-supply use in 1995, 

outdoor water use has a greater effect on 

yearly amounts used. Lesser amounts of 

water were used for irrigation in 1995 due 

to cooler, wetter weather. In the Lower 

Arkansas and Kansas-Lower Republican 

Basins, the increase in reported surfacewater withdrawals for mining use is 

related to State water-right regulations. 

For these categories of water use, longterm trends are best recognized by 

collecting and evaluating annual data.

For more information contact:

District Chief

U.S. Geological Survey

4821 Quail Crest Place

Lawrence, Kansas 66049–3839

(785) 842–9909

email: waucott@usgs.gov

Figure 6. Livestock withdrawals, 1990 and 1995.

0

25

5

10

15

20

UREP

SOL

SHS

UARK

CIM

LARK

WAL

VER

NEO

MDC

KLR

MO

1990 

surface 

water

1990 

ground 

water

1995 

surface water

1995 

ground water

Major river basins (fig. 1)

Livestock withdrawals, in million gallons per day