U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Fact Sheet 001-99

January 2000

Kansas

For more than 100 years, the U.S.

Geological Survey (USGS) has been

mapping, measuring, describing, and

seeking to increase the understanding

of Kansas’ natural resources. The

USGS is known for impartial data

collection and data interpretation that

enable resource planners and others

to make informed decisions. Today’s

issues are more pressing than ever—

understanding natural hazards to

minimize their effects on life and

property, the continuing need for

mineral- and water-resource development, and understanding the effects

of human activities on biological and

water resources.

As the Nation’s leading earth-science

agency, the USGS cooperates with

more than 30 Federal, State, and local

agencies in Kansas to produce maps,

interpretive reports, and data to help

these agencies manage the State’s

resources. Cooperators include State

natural resources agencies, county

and municipal public works departments, tribal governments, universities, and other Federal agencies. The

USGS also provides support to the

Kansas Water Resources Institute,

which conducts research, education,

and information and technology

transfer programs at Kansas State

University in Manhattan.

Floods

Real-time flood information, such as

watches and warnings issued by the

National Weather Service, depends on

data collected by the USGS at 140

automated streamflow-gaging stations

in Kansas. USGS streamflow data

also are used throughout Kansas by

many Federal, State, and local

agencies, as well as by private

companies and individuals. Some of

these customers use the streamflow

data to provide flood warnings and to

manage the State’s reservoir system

to reduce the loss of life and property

caused by floods (fig. 1). Floodfrequency reports based on USGS

streamflow information are used to

design safe and economical highway

bridges, culverts, and other structures;

to zone and regulate activity in flood

plains, thereby saving lives and

reducing property damage; and to set

flood-insurance rates.

Water Availability

Demand for water in Kansas sometimes is greater than the available

supply. The USGS provides critical

information about the availability of

water supplies to State agencies that

are responsible for water-resources

management, such as the Kansas

Department of Agriculture’s Division

of Water Resources (DWR) and the

Kansas Water Office (KWO), and to

local water suppliers such as the city

of Wichita. In cooperation with 14

Federal, State, and local agencies, the

USGS established and operates a

near-real-time data-collection network of more than 180 streamflowgaging stations. This network (fig. 2)

provides information necessary to

quantify the amount of water available for various uses; the network is

updated continually to reflect changing information needs. Near-real time

streamflow information for selected

stations is available on the World

Wide Web at http://ks.water.usgs.gov/

In cooperation with the DWR and the

KWO, the USGS also has developed

databases used for estimating water

use and ground-water recharge. These

help water-management officials

minimize overdevelopment of water

resources and prevent the infringement of water rights. The data

collected by the USGS also are

important for addressing interstate

conflicts over water in rivers that

cross State boundaries.

The USGS has assisted the city of

Wichita in assessing the potential for

innovative solutions to meet future

water-supply needs. The USGS is

Figure 1. With floodgates closed

behind him, a USGS hydrographer

measures the water level of the

Marais des Cygnes River from the

submerged U.S. Highway 59 bridge

near Ottawa, northeastern Kansas.

(Photograph courtesy of Richard

Gwin, Lawrence Journal-World,

Lawrence, Kansas.)
science for a changing world

documenting ground-water-level

changes in the Equus Beds aquifer in

south-central Kansas, one of two

water-supply sources for the city. The

USGS is evaluating the water-quality

effects of the city’s aquifer-recharge

demonstration project. These efforts

are intended to provide vital information for Wichita to manage its watersupply sources. This information also

may be useful nationally for other

aquifer-recharge projects.

The USGS also has evaluated the

water-supply potential and effects of

pumping at the cities of Manhattan

and Junction City in northeastern

Kansas. This information helps water

managers balance supply and demand

so that the citizens of Kansas can

prepare for future water-supply

problems before they become crises.

Effects of Urbanization on Water

Resources

Parts of Kansas have undergone

substantial urbanization during the

past several decades. This has led to

deterioration in surface- and groundwater quality in some areas. The

USGS has filled an important role in

assessing the effects of urbanization

on stormwater runoff and surfacewater quality and by determining the

effects of landfills on ground-water

quality. This information can be used

by municipal planners and others to

manage the effects of present and

future urban development.

Effects of Agriculture on Water

Resources

Modern agricultural practices rely on

pesticides and fertilizers to increase

crop yields. Excessive levels of some

of these chemicals may be harmful to

humans and aquatic life and have

been detected in rivers and reservoirs used as public drinking-water

supplies.

The USGS provides water-resources

information to several State agencies,

such as the Kansas Department of

Agriculture, and municipal water

suppliers to help them define and

manage this problem. The USGS has

collected surface-water samples to

determine concentrations of pesticides in the northeastern and southcentral parts of the State. USGS

streamflow measurements also are

important for computing chemical

loads, and the results contribute to

understanding the sources and

movement of pesticides and nutrients

in water.

In 1993–94, the USGS monitored

pesticide concentrations in the

Delaware River Basin and downstream from Perry Lake in northeastern Kansas to determine pesticide

loads and concentrations in the

streams and the lake. Findings

indicate that more than one-half of

the annual contributions of the

herbicide atrazine to Perry Lake

occur within 10 days of the year and

that climatic and hydrologic variations frequently had a greater effect

on annual loads than did changes in

land-management practices. These

findings are important for designing

effective monitoring programs and

management strategies in Kansas and

nationwide.

The USGS also has conducted

extensive water-quality monitoring in

the Cheney Reservoir watershed in

south-central Kansas. This monitoring has identified the chemical

constituents of greatest concern,

documented the effects of bestmanagement practices, and has been

used to target the implementation of

best-management practices.

The Quivira Wildlife Refuge in

south-central Kansas has been

receiving reduced inflows from

Rattlesnake Creek as a result of overappropriation upstream. The USGS

developed a flow-routing model and

system to enable refuge managers to

efficiently allocate water within the

refuge and to help mitigate the effects

of reduced streamflow.

Effects of Resevoirs on Water

Resources

The reservoir system has been a great

benefit to the citizens of Kansas,

especially for water supply, recreation, and flood control. StreamflowStreamflow-gaging station—1999 water year

Streamflow-gaging station—Discontinued before 1999 water year

EXPLANATION

Figure 2. Location of streamflow-gaging stations in Kansas.
Kansas

data analysis by the USGS provided

an independent verification of the

benefits of the Kansas River Basin

reservoir system in northeastern

Kansas during the 1993 floods.

The accumulation of sediment of

degraded quality is a concern in

Kansas reservoirs. The USGS has

conducted sediment-quality studies

on six reservoirs in Kansas. A sediment study of Hillsdale Lake in

northeastern Kansas determined that

more than 90 percent of the phosphorus, a critical nutrient in lake eutrophication, came from runoff from

farms and subdivisions in the watershed and less than 10 percent came

from waste-treatment plants—a key

finding in developing regulatory and

management strategies. USGS

scientists are studying the reservoirs

on the Solomon and Republican

Rivers to evaluate the effects of

irrigation practices on the transport of

selenium.

Mapping Partnerships

Digital Orthophotoquads

The USGS has been cooperating with

the Natural Resources Conservation

Service (NRCS), the Farm Service

Agency, and the Kansas Water Office

to produce digital orthophotoquads

(DOQ’s) for the State. DOQ’s are

scanned aerial photographs in which

the distortions and displacements

caused by camera orientation and

terrain are removed. A DOQ may be

loaded into a geographic information

system (GIS) and used with other

data for analysis and geographic

applications. The NRCS has been

using DOQ’s as a base to digitize

soils throughout the State. Other

applications of DOQ’s include

collecting and updating land use and

land cover, natural-resource mapping,

and timber management and monitoring. The DOQ series for Kansas is

almost complete.

Statewide Hydrography Project

The USGS is cooperating with the

NRCS to produce 1:24,000-scale

hydrography digital line graphs for

Kansas. The hydrography will be

compiled and revised by the NRCS

using DOQ’s as the source and digital

hydrography data previously created

by the Kansas Geological Survey as a

background reference. All of the stream

networks and water features will be

made into digital X-Y coordinate data

during a 3-year period. The hydrography is being compiled in conjunction

with the digitizing of riparian vegetation for the Kansas Water Office.

Eventually, DLG data will be converted to a computer model and

become part of the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD). The NRCS, the

Kansas Water Office, and other State

agencies may use the 1:24,000-scale

NHD for hydrologic modeling and

pollution and hazards monitoring.

National Aerial Photography Program

Black-and-white aerial photography

over Kansas was completed in the

spring of 1996 as part of the National

Aerial Photography Program (NAPP).

Administered by the USGS, the

NAPP is supported by several Federal

agencies and the States. Although

Kansas has been completely photographed, about 15 percent will be

rephotographed in spring 1999. NAPP

photographs can be used as a management tool for monitoring land-use and

land-cover changes, timber and naturalresource management, and for soil and

field delineation. Aerial photographs

may be acquired from the USGS EROS

Data Center in Sioux Falls, S. Dak.

Topographic County Mapping

Partnership

The USGS continues its partnership

begun in 1980 with the Kansas

Geological Survey to produce

1:100,000-scale topographic county

maps for the State. The county-based

topographic maps support management and research activities in the

State. Approximately 12 counties

remain to be mapped to complete

statewide coverage. Completed maps

may be obtained from the Kansas

Geological Survey in Lawrence.

Geologic Mapping

The National Cooperative Geologic

Mapping Program creates geologic

maps and digital geologic data bases

to solve resource, land-use, hazard,

and environmental problems and to

develop GIS-based methods for

assessing risks, for reducing economic losses from natural hazards,

and for making optimal land-use

decisions, while building a digital

geologic-map data base for the

Nation to help guide public policy.

These program objectives are accomplished cooperatively with State

geological surveys, universities, and

Federal agencies. The Kansas

Geological Survey is continuing the

geologic mapping (at a scale of

1:24,000) of Comanche, Bourbon,

Hamilton, and Kearny Counties

under the auspices of the

STATEMAP Program, which supports geologic mapping in 40 or more

States annually.

Kansas Gap Analysis Program

The Gap Analysis Program (GAP) is

a national program that is conducted

as State-level projects and is coordinated by the USGS. It is a collaborative effort among private groups,

regional, State, and Federal agencies

to provide regional assessments of the

conservation status of native wildlife

and natural land-cover types and to

facilitate use of this information in

land management. The GAP maintains information in a computer-based

GIS that shows land cover, land
Printed on recycled paper

USGS office locations USGS State Representative

4821 Quail Crest Place

Lawrence, KS 66049

Telephone: (785) 832-9909

 Fax: (785) 832-3500

USGS Home Page

http://www.usgs.gov

Reports and products

1-888-ASK-USGS

ownership, land management, and

wildlife distribution. The Kansas

GAP began in May 1995, and it is

expected to be completed in September 2000. Cooperators include the

USGS, the University of Kansas, and

Kansas State University. Land-cover

mapping is in its final stages, and

distribution models of 350 species of

Kansas wildlife are being developed.

Major partners who expect to use the

Kansas GAP information are the

Kansas Department of Wildlife and

Parks, the Kansas Water Office, the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the

U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),

and the NRCS.

Barriers to Swift Fox Range

Expansion and Population Growth

The diminutive swift fox (fig. 3) once

occupied most of the Great Plains

from west-central Texas to the

Canadian prairies. Settlement of the

prairie led to rapid decreases in swift

fox numbers. Currently, populations

live in Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming,

Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma,

and Texas. Although the swift fox is

moderately abundant in Kansas, it is

absent from parts of its historic range

within the State. The USGS and the

Kansas Department of Wildlife and

Parks are developing information

needed to improve management of

swift fox in Kansas and elsewhere.

The USGS is leading the development of reliable monitoring methods

and is gathering information about

swift fox biology and population for

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Two populations of swift foxes in

western Kansas have been studied

using telemetry techniques. Also, the

USGS is evaluating competition

between swift fox and red fox, which

may inhibit establishment of swift

foxes in areas occupied by red foxes.

This information is intended to aid

managers’ attempts to relocate swift

foxes elsewhere in the State to

enhance their conservation.

Effects of Mining on Threatened

Fish Populations

The Neosho madtom (Noturus

placidus) (fig. 4), Federally listed as a

threatened species, is a small catfish

found in the Midwest. Cherokee

County in southeastern Kansas

The USGS has 84

employees in Kansas

Wichita

Manhattan

Hays Lawrence

Figure 3. Tranquilized swift fox being

fitted with a radio collar.

Figure 4. Neosho madtom.

supports one of the remaining Neosho

madtom populations, but the area is

affected by severe water-quality and

habitat degradation. Once a lead-zinc

mining region, the tri-state area of

Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri now

has several EPA Superfund sites and

is on the agency’s National Priority

List for remediation. The USGS is

studying the biological effects of

mining wastewaters on the Neosho

madtom populations in the Neosho

and Spring Rivers of Kansas. Water

and sediment are toxic at sites within

the range of the Neosho madtom in

the Spring River, and zinc concentrations are high enough to be a factor

limiting the distribution and abundance of the species. This information

is important to the restoration efforts

by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

and Kansas natural-resource managers, to removing this species from the

list of threatened species, and to

creating viable fisheries in these

degraded river systems.