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Suggested citation:

Hansen, C.V., 2011, Status of groundwater levels and storage volume in the Equus

Beds aquifer near Wichita, Kansas, July 2010: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific 

Investigations Map 3159, 1 sheet.

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Status of Groundwater Levels and Storage Volume in the Equus

Beds Aquifer near Wichita, Kansas, July 2010

By

Cristi V. Hansen

2011

Introduction

Beginning in the 1940s, the Wichita well field was developed in the Equus Beds 

aquifer in southwestern Harvey County and northwestern Sedgwick County to supply water to the city of Wichita, which has been the largest city in Kansas since the 

mid-1940s (Williams and Lohman, 1949; Gibson, 1998; U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). 

In addition to supplying drinking water for Wichita, the other primary use of water 

from the Equus Beds aquifer is crop irrigation in this agriculturally-dominated part 

of south-central Kansas (Rich Eubank, Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division 

of Water Resources, oral commun., 2008). The decline of water levels in the aquifer 

were noted soon after the development of the Wichita well field began (Williams and 

Lohman, 1949). As water levels in the aquifer decline, the volume of water stored 

in the aquifer decreases and less water is available to supply future needs. For many 

years the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the city of Wichita, has 

monitored these changes in water levels and the resulting changes in storage volume in 

the Equus Beds aquifer as part of Wichita’s effort to effectively manage this resource. 

In 2007, the city of Wichita implemented Phase I of the Equus Beds Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) project to increase the long-term sustainability of the Equus

Beds aquifer through large-scale artificial recharge (City of Wichita, [2007?]). The 

ASR project uses water from the Little Arkansas River—either pumped from the river 

directly or from wells in the riverbank that obtain their water from the river by induced 

infiltration—as the source of artificial recharge to the Equus Beds aquifer (City of 

Wichita, [2007?]).

Hydrogeology of the Study Area

The approximately 165 square-mile (mi2) study area is located northwest of 

Wichita, Kansas in Harvey and Sedgwick Counties (fig. 1). It is bounded on the southwest by the Arkansas River and on the northeast by the Little Arkansas River. The land 

surface in the study area typically slopes gently toward the major streams from an altitude of about 1,495 feet (ft) in the northwest to a low of about 1,295 ft in the southeast. 

The central part of the study area (fig. 1), which covers about 55 mi2, is the historic 

center of pumping in the study area. The central part of the study area includes wells 

used to supply water to the city of Wichita and many wells used for irrigation (Kansas 

Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources, unpublished data, 2010).

The Equus Beds aquifer consists of Quaternary-age deposits in the study area. 

Quaternary-age deposits in the study area primarily are alluvial deposits with some 

dune sand and loess (Myers and others, 1996). The alluvial deposits, known locally 

as the Equus beds, are as much as 250 ft thick in the study area (Leonard and Kleinschmidt, 1976). The Equus beds primarily consist of sand and gravel interbedded with 

clay or silt, but locally may consist primarily of clay with thin sand and gravel layers 

(Lane and Miller, 1965a; Myers and others, 1996). The middle part of the Equus beds 

generally has more fine-grained material than the lower and upper parts (Lane and 

Miller, 1965b, Myers and others, 1996). The approximately 700-ft-thick Permian-age 

Wellington Formation underlies the Equus beds in the study area and forms the bedrock confining unit below them (Bayne, 1956; Myers and others, 1996). 

The Equus Beds aquifer is the easternmost extension of the High Plains aquifer in 

Kansas (Stullken and others, 1985; Hansen and Aucott, 2001). The Equus Beds aquifer 

is an important source of water because of the generally shallow depth to the water 

table, the large saturated thickness, and generally good water quality. Near the Arkansas River and in the western part of the study area, the water table can be less than 

10 ft below land surface. Farther from the Arkansas River and near the Little Arkansas 

River, the water table can be at a greater depth (as much as 50 ft below land surface in 

July 2010), depending on the altitude of the land surface and the amount of water-level 

decline that has been caused by groundwater withdrawals. The saturated thickness of 

the Equus Beds aquifer within the study area ranges from about 75 ft near the Little 

Arkansas River to almost 250 ft near the Arkansas River where the lowest areas of 

the underlying bedrock surface occur (Spinazola and others, 1985). The Equus Beds 

aquifer is considered to be an unconfined aquifer, but the presence of clay layers has 

resulted in semiconfined conditions in some areas (Spinazola and others, 1985; Stramel, 1967). Storage volume (the amount of water available for use) of the Equus Beds 

aquifer in the study area in 2006 was estimated at about 2,100,000 acre-feet (acre-ft) 

(Hansen, 2007).

Methods

From July 1 through July 22, 2010, water levels were measured in 114 historic 

observation wells and 38 areal index wells. The historic observation wells have been 

used by the city of Wichita for monitoring water levels in the Equus Beds aquifer for 

years, many since the 1940s (Stramel, 1956). The areal index wells were installed in 

2001 and 2002 to monitor the effects of artificial recharge on the water quality and 

water levels in the Equus Beds aquifer and to determine if there are water-quality 

differences between the shallow and deep parts of the aquifer (Andrew Ziegler, U.S. 

Geological Survey, oral commun., September 2003). Water levels in the historic observation wells were measured by city of Wichita personnel; water levels in the areal 

index wells were measured by Equus Beds Groundwater Management District No. 2 

(GMD2) personnel. Both agencies used standard water-level measurement techniques 

that are similar to USGS methods described in Stallman (1971). The historic observation well data are on file, in paper and electronic form, with the city of Wichita’s 

Water and Sewer Department in Wichita, Kansas; the areal index well data collected 

by GMD2 are stored in the Kansas Geological Survey’s (KGS’s) Water Information 

and Storage and Retrieval Database (WIZARD) (Kansas Geological Survey, 2010). 

The water-level data used in this report from the historic monitoring wells and the 

areal index wells also are stored by the USGS in the National Water Information System 

(NWIS) database (U.S. Geological Survey, 2010b). 

Precipitation for the study area for 2010 was estimated as the arithmetic average of 

precipitation for the five weather stations in or near Halstead, Hutchinson, Mount Hope, 

Newton, and Wichita (fig. 1). Values for normal precipitation currently (2010) used by 

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are the averages for 1971–2000 

(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2002). Normal (annual or monthly) 

precipitation for weather stations at Sedgwick, Hutchinson, Mount Hope, Newton, and 

Wichita was used to determine normal precipitation for the study area. Because precipitation data were not collected at Halstead before 2001, normal precipitation data from the 

nearby Sedgwick station were used instead. Collection of precipitation data at Sedgwick 

was discontinued in 2004, thus this station could not be used for the 2010 arithmetic 

average precipitation. Normal annual precipitation for the study area is about 31.35 inches 

(in.). This is similar to the long-term (1940–2009) average annual precipitation of 

31.52 in. that was estimated for the study area by Hansen and Aucott (2010).

The water-level change since August 1940 at a well was determined by subtracting 

the depth to water below land surface in July 2010 from the depth to water below land 

surface at the same well in August 1940. Of the 152 wells used in this report, only 35 had 

measured water levels for August 1940. If an August 1940 water-level measurement did 

not exist for a well in the study area, one was estimated from the August 1940 water-level 

altitude map of Stramel (1956) as modified by Aucott and Myers (1998). The August 1940 

to July 2010 water-level-change values for the measured wells were plotted on the map 

and manually contoured. 

Change in storage volume for the purposes of this report is defined as the change in 

saturated aquifer volume multiplied by the specific yield of the aquifer. Specific yield is 

the ratio of (1) the volume of water a rock or soil will yield by gravity to (2) the volume of 

rock or soil (Lohman and others, 1972). A specific yield of 0.2 has been used to compute the changes in storage volume in the Equus Beds aquifer since Stramel (1956) first 

computed storage volume for the aquifer. The use of a specific yield of 0.2 was retained in 

this report because, as noted by Hansen and Aucott (2001), it is within the range of most 

estimates of specific yield, and because there is no general agreement on an average value 

of specific yield for the Equus Beds aquifer in the study area. 

The change in storage volume from August 1940 to July 2010 was computed using 

computer-generated Thiessen polygons (Thiessen, 1911) that were based on the measured 

water-level changes at wells and the manually drawn lines of equal water-level change. 

Theissen polygons apportion the water-level change at each well and the estimated value 

at points representing the lines of equal water-level change to the area around the wells 

and points. The volume of storage change was computed by summing the area of each 

Theissen polygon multiplied by the water-level-change value associated with the Theissen polygon, and then multiplied by the specific yield. To determine the storage-volume 

change since August 1940 in the whole study area and in the central part of the study area, 

the computation was done for the Theissen polygons within each of these areas. 

Changes in storage volume for periods that do not begin with August 1940 were 

calculated as the difference between changes in storage volume for August 1940 to the 

beginning of the selected time period, and for August 1940 to the end of the selected time 

period. For example, the change in storage volume for January 1993 to July 2010 was calculated as the change in storage volume for August 1940 to July 2010 minus the change in 

storage volume for August 1940 to January 1993.

Groundwater Levels and Storage Volume, July 2010

Groundwater-level declines can result from a combination of factors, with the 

primary factors in the study area being pumpage and decreased recharge resulting from 

less-than-normal precipitation. Droughts and other periods of less-than-normal precipitation tend to decrease the amount of recharge available and increase demand for, and thus 

pumpage of, groundwater, resulting in increased water-level declines. Periods of greaterthan-normal rainfall tend to increase the amount of recharge available and decrease the 

demand for, and thus pumpage of, groundwater, resulting in water-level rises. If the waterlevel declines or rises are large enough, they may locally alter the direction of groundwater flow. An annual cycle of water-level declines and rises generally occurs in the study 

area. Typically, the largest water-level declines occur during the summer or fall when 

agricultural-irrigation and city pumpage are greatest (Aucott and Myers, 1998). This cycle 

of annual water-level declines is reflected in the annual fluctuation in the water levels in 

wells shown in figure 2. The consistently large seasonal water-level variations (commonly 

from 5 to 20 ft) in well 104 probably are caused by agricultural-irrigation pumpage. 

Record to near-record water-level declines in the Equus Beds aquifer occurred in 

October 1992 and January 1993 (Aucott and Myers, 1998; Hansen and Aucott, 2001). 

Although the maximum recorded decline in storage volume in the Equus Beds aquifer 

occurred in October 1992, the January 1993 storage-volume decline is used for comparison purposes to minimize the effect of seasonal factors (Hansen and Aucott, 2001). Recent 

reports have indicated that since January 1993, the Equus Beds aquifer has been experiencing higher water levels because of near-normal to greater-than-normal precipitation 

and decreased city pumpage (Aucott and Myers, 1998; Hansen and Aucott, 2001, 2004, 

2010; Hansen, 2007). Pumpage for agricultural irrigation, which can vary as much as 

40 percent from year to year, tended to decrease in years of greater-than-normal precipitation and increase in years of normal to less-than-normal precipitation (Hansen, 

2007); thus, decreased pumpage for agricultural irrigation likely contributed to the higher 

water levels only in years of greater-than-normal precipitation. Water levels in wells in 

the study area have continued to remain relatively high (fig. 2), indicating this period of 

higher water levels that began in 1993 continued through July 2010. Large-scale artificial 

recharge by the city of Wichita, which began in 2007, probably contributed to the continuation of these higher water levels near the recharge sites (Hansen and Aucott, 2010).

Water-level changes from August 1940 to July 2010 are shown in figure 3. Water 

levels were measured in the historic observation wells by city of Wichita personnel on 

July 1, 2010, and from July 20 through 22, 2010; water levels were measured in the areal 

index wells by GMD2 personnel on July 15 and 16, 2010. Water-level changes from 

August 1940 to July 2010 ranged from a decline of 27.25 ft at well 1 in the northern part 

of the central part of the study area to a rise of 5.04 ft at well 506 near the Little Arkansas 

River in the northern part of the study area (fig. 3). Water-level declines of 20 ft or more 

occurred in the northern part of the central part of the study area, probably because of 

pumping in this area. Surrounding the area of decline of 20 ft or more is a large area of 

water-level declines of 10 ft or more (fig. 3). There are two additional areas of water-level 

declines of 10 ft or more—a large area south of Kisiwa Creek in the central part of the 

study area and a smaller area in the northwest part of the study area (fig. 3). Water-level 

rises of less than 3 ft occurred in a large area along the western edge of the study area and 

in small areas near the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers (fig. 3). These water-level 

rises probably occurred because of increased natural recharge from excess precipitation. 

Precipitation in July 2010 at the five weather stations in and near the study area (Halstead, 

Hutchinson, Mount Hope, Newton, and Wichita; fig. 1) ranged from about 2.77 in. at 

Wichita to about 9.29 in. at Mount Hope and averaged about 5.70 in. (National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration, 2010g) with most of the precipitation occurring during July 3 through 6, 2010 (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2010g). 

Precipitation in the study area during July 2010 was about 2 in. or more above normal in 

much of the study area (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2010h). 

No obvious effects of artificial recharge are documented at the Phase 1 sites in this 

report, probably because only about 48 acre-ft of artificial recharge occurred in July 

2010 and only at the four northern Phase 1 sites (U.S. Geological Survey, 2010a).

The change in storage volume in the study area from August 1940 to July 2010 

was a decrease of about 93,700 acre-ft (fig. 2; table 1). Storage volume levels in 

July 2010 were similar to those seen in the 1970s (fig. 2). The storage volume in 

the study area in July 2010 was about 6,300 acre-ft more than in January 2010, and 

about 30,300 acre-ft more than in July 2009 (table 1). From August 1940 (just before 

Wichita began pumping water from the study area) to January 1993 (when nearrecord low water levels and storage volumes occurred in the study area because of a 

combination of drought conditions and increased usage), storage volume decreased 

by about 255,000 acre-ft in the study area (Aucott and Myers, 1998). The change 

in storage volume from January 1993 to July 2010 represents a recovery of about 

161,300 acre-ft (table 1) or about 63 percent of the storage volume previously lost 

from August 1940 to January 1993. From August 1940 to January 2007 (when the 

last set of water-level measurements were made before large-scale artificial recharge 

began), storage volume decreased by about 167,000 acre-ft (table 1). The change 

in storage volume from January 2007 to July 2010 represents a recovery of about 

73,300 acre-ft, or about 44 percent of the storage volume previously lost from 

August 1940 to January 2007. Precipitation in the study area during January through 

July 2010 averaged about 22.85 in., or about 3.47 in. greater than the study-area 

normal for January through July (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

2002, 2010a–g). Hansen and Aucott (2011) noted greater-than-normal precipitation 

contributes to storage-volume recoveries through increased natural recharge and 

reduced demand for irrigation and city pumpage. Since March 2007, when Wichita 

began large-scale artificial recharge, about 2,825 acre-ft (about 921 million gallons) 

of water have been artificially recharged into the aquifer through the six Phase 1 

recharge sites shown in figure 3 (U.S. Geological Survey, 2010a). Hansen and Aucott 

(2010) documented the amount of artificial recharge is relatively small compared 

to the amount of the city and agricultural-irrigation pumpage from the Equus Beds 

aquifer in the study area for the same period.

The change in storage volume in the central part of the study area (where 

Wichita city wells are located) from August 1940 to July 2010 was a decrease of 

about 56,000 acre-ft (fig. 2; table 1). Storage volume in the central part of the study 

area in July 2010 was about 8,100 acre-ft more than in July 2009 and about 

1,600 acre-ft more than in January 2010 (table 1). From January 1993 to July 2010, 

storage volume in the central part of the study area increased by about 98,000 acre-ft 

(table 1) or about 64 percent of the storage volume previously lost from August 

1940 to January 1993. From January 2007 (just before large-scale artificial recharge 

began) to July 2010, storage volume in the central part of the study area increased 

by about 26,900 acre-ft or about 32 percent of the storage volume previously lost 

from August 1940 to January 2007. Major factors in the recovery in storage volumes 

seen in the study area and the central part of the study area (table 1) are increased 

recharge from greater-than-normal precipitation and planned decreases in city pumpage that are part of Wichita’s Integrated Resource Plan (Hansen and Aucott, 2010; 

Warren and others, 1995); however, part of the recovery may be because city and 

irrigation pumpage probably decreased in response to greater-than-normal precipitation in the study area during January to July 2010 (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2002, 2010g).

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in the Wichita well field area, south-central Kansas, 1940–98: U.S. Geological 

Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 98–4141, 20 p.

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sim/3075/.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Prepared in cooperation with the

CITY OF WICHITA, KANSAS

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS MAP 3159

Status of groundwater levels and storage volume in the Equus Beds aquifer

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Figure 1. Location of study area near Wichita, south-central Kansas (modified from 

Aucott and Myers, 1998).

Study area

KINGMAN

COUNTY

Patterson

0 2 4 6 8 10 MILES

0 2 4 6 8 10 KILOMETERS

37o45'

38o

38o15'

97o45' 30' 97o15'

Arkansas

River

Kisiwa

River

Arkansas

Little

West

East

Emma 

Emma 

Creek

Sand 

Creek

Creek

Creek

RICECOUNTY

RENO

COUNTY

MARION

COUNTY

MCPHERSON

COUNTY

Approximate extent of 

High Plains aquifer in 

Kansas (from Juracek 

and Hansen, 1995)

SEDGWICK

COUNTY

HARVEY

COUNTY

Hesston

Newton

Bentley

Hutchinson

Emma

Creek

Halstead

Index map

Cheney

 Reservoir

North Fork

Ninnescah River 

KANSAS

Approximate boundary 

of Equus Beds aquifer

(from Juracek and

Hansen, 1995)

Andale

Park

City

Bel Aire

Wichita

Burrton

Central part 

of study area

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, 1:100,000, 1983 

Lambert Conformal Conic Projection

Standard parallels 33° and 45°, central meridian 98°15'

Cow

Creek

Sedgwick

Mount

Hope Valley

Center

Figure 2. Water-level altitudes in observation wells 104 and 886 and Equus Beds 

aquifer storage-volume change in the study area and the central part of the study 

area (water-level-altitude data are from Stramel (1956, 1967) and data collected by 

city of Wichita that are on file with U.S. Geological Survey in Lawrence, Kansas; 

storage-volume changes are from Stramel (1956, 1967), Aucott and Myers (1998), 

Aucott and others (1998), Hansen and Aucott (2001, 2004, 2010), Hansen (2007, 2009), 

and unpublished data on file with U.S. Geological Survey in Lawrence, Kansas). 

Locations of observation wells are shown in figure 3. 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985

19901995

2000

20052010

1,300

1,440

1,310

1,320

1,330

1,340

1,350

1,360

1,370

1,380

1,390

1,400

1,410

1,420

1,430

WATER-LEVEL ALTITUDE, IN FEET ABOVE NORTH 

AMERICAN VERTICAL DATUM OF 1988 (NAVD 88)

-300

400

-200

-100

0

100

200

300

STORAGE-VOLUME CHANGE SINCE AUGUST 1940,

IN THOUSANDS OF ACRE-FEET

Storage-volume 

change in study area

Water-level altitude in well 104

Water-level altitude in well 886 -

Storage-volume change

in central part of study area

Figure 3. Water-level changes in the Equus Beds aquifer in the study area, August 1940 to July 2010.

Table 1. Storage-volume changes in Equus Beds aquifer near Wichita, southcentral Kansas, August 1940 to July 2010.

[Data on file with U.S. Geological Survey, Lawrence, Kansas.]

Time period

Storage-volume changes, in acre-feet

Study area Central part of 

study area

August 1940 to January 1993 1-255,000 1-154,000

August 1940 to January 2007 2-167,000 2-82,900

August 1940 to July 2009 2-124,000 2-64,100

August 1940 to January 2010 2-100,000 2-57,600

August 1940 to July 2010 -93,700 -56,000

January 1993 to July 2010 +161,300 +98,000

January 2007 to July 2010 +73,300 +26,900

July 2009 to July 2010 +30,300 +8,100

January 2010 to July 2010 +6,300 +1,600

1

 Storage-volume change previously reported by Aucott and Myers (1998).

2

 Storage-volume change previously reported by Hansen and Aucott (2010).

"

"

!

Halstead

Sedgwick

Burrton

Mount 

Hope

Valley

Center

Bentley

RB-2

RB-1

-12

-14

-16

-18

-20

-14

-18

-14

-18

-16

-18

-16

-12

-14

-16

-16

-12

-14

-22 -24

97°40' 97°35' 97°30' 97°25'

38°05'

38°00'

37°55'

37°50'

-2

-2

0

0

-2

-4

0

0

-2

0

0

-4

-4

-6

-6

+2

-10

+4

-10

-10

-10

-8 -6

-4

-2

0

-18

-12

-14-16

0 -2

-6

-4

-8

-12

-14

-16

-22

-24

-26

-18

-16

-16

-18

-16

-14

-12

-8

-8

-6

-6

-10

+2

-2

0

-8

-20

-12

-14 -16

-18

-14

+2

SEDGWICK COUNTY

HARVEY COUNTY

Arkansas River

Sand Creek

Emm

a

Cre

ek

R. 3 W. R. 2 W. R. 1 W.

T.

23

S.

T.

24

S.

T.

25

S.

Little Arkansas River

Little Arkansas River

Kisiwa Creek

-13.48

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data, 1:100,000, 1983 

Universal Transverse Mercator projection, Zone 14

Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 MILES

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 KILOMETERS

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-8.14

+0.26

-2.59 -1.00

-3.26

-4.41

-8.77

-7.82

-2.99

-0.90

+5.01 +0.42

-2.40

-0.05

+2.37

-0.18

-9.80

-7.82 -8.01

-5.75

-1.67

-9.43

-4.00

+0.85

+4.39

-7.49

-6.63

-3.85

-5.70

-3.09

-8.17

-5.47

-5.49

-5.07

-4.06

-5.57

-6.32

-7.42

-7.55

-8.72 -9.86

-9.76 -9.11

-9.88

-1.87

-1.57

-0.33

+1.75

-2.50

-5.67

+0.60 -0.37

+0.94

-6.04

-5.84

-3.65

-2.67

-0.22

-2.65

-2.14

+0.73

+3.71

-0.89

-1.75

-4.91

-0.45

+0.25

-0.29

-4.25

-9.95

-9.55

-13.90

-0.70

-6.26

-8.09 -7.19

-13.99

-15.95

-14.75

-12.58

-11.62 -11.67

-11.24

-16.66

-10.62 -16.29

-13.57

-19.17

-14.31

-13.92

-14.44

-22.22

-23.00

-27.25

-14.42

-12.95 -18.08

-12.08

-11.39 -11.48

-16.58

-14.10

-13.50 -11.44

-11.76

-11.55

-14.60

-15.09

-14.51

-14.25

-5.76

-18.80

-16.44

1

8

9

5

3038

4

3

2

7

6

13

16

22

25 24

23

21

20 19

14

886

12

33

31

30

42

55

54

53

52

51

50 49

48

47

46

45

44

41

40

39

38

37

36

35 29 32 34

27 28

26

17

15 18

10

11

892

870 842

880

840

839

833

815

810

506 P31

P32

P30

P28

P29

101

P35

P27

133

130

126

124

120

122

118

115

114

112

111

110

109

108

105

103

102

816

878

3032

3001

3035

3050

3044

3041

3034

3033

3004

3002

1190

1186 1187

1179

1176

1175

3036

104

2084 1189

1173

RRW-3

RRW-4

RRW-2

RRW-1

"

"

"

"

IW-16

"

" "

"

" "

"

"

" "

"

"

"

"

" "

"

"

" " " "

" "

"

"

"

"

" "

"

"

"

" " "

"

"

" "

"

" "

"

"

" "

"

"

"

"

" "

"

"

" " " "

" "

"

"

"

"

" "

"

"

"

" " "

"

"

IW-38

IW-37 IW-36

IW-35

IW-34

IW-33

IW-32

IW-30 IW-31

IW-29

IW-28

IW-27

IW-26

IW-24 IW-25

IW-21 IW-22 IW-23 IW-20

IW-19

IW-18

IW-15 IW-17

IW-14

IW-13

IW-12

IW-11

IW-10

IW-09 IW-08

IW-07

IW-05 IW-06

IW-04

IW-03

IW-01

+1.27

-2.39 -1.82

+0.04

+1.18

-3.68

-3.11

-0.13 -2.66

-4.42

-6.96

-1.73

+1.28 +0.42

-3.55 -5.74 -8.18

-3.05

+1.15

-1.54

-1.48

-1.13

+2.18

-9.48

-3.00 -2.22

-8.16

-7.34

-0.73 +1.96

-0.56

-10.41

-11.79

-13.70

-15.29

-12.66

-13.20

-15.02

IW-02

-10

Water-level measurements made by city of Wichita and

Equus Beds Groundwater Management District No. 2 personnel.

Change in storage volume in study area between August 1940 

and July 2010 is -93,700 acre-feet.

RRW-1

IW-12

+2.18

16

-15.95

EXPLANATION

Area of water-level decline:

 Less than 10 feet

 10 to less than 20 feet

 20 to less than 30 feet

Line of equal water-level change—

 Interval 2 feet. Dashed where

 approximately located 

Phase 1 recharge site and identifier

Equus beds historic observation

 well—Well number shown above; 

 water-level change, in feet, shown 

 below

Well hydrograph shown in figure 2

Equus beds area index well—Well 

 identifier shown above; water-level 

 change, in feet, shown below

"

Boundary of 

study area

Boundary of central 

part of study area

Boundary of 

study area

Conversion Factors, Abbreviations, and Datums

Multiply By To obtain

Length

inch (in.) 2.54 centimeter (cm)

inch (in.) 25.4 millimeter (mm)

foot (ft) 0.3048 meter (m)

mile (mi) 1.609 kilometer (km)

Area

square mile (mi2) 2.590 square kilometer (km2) 

Volume

acre-foot (acre-ft) 1,233 cubic meter (m3)

million gallons (Mgal) 3,785 cubic meter (m3)

Vertical coordinate information is referenced to the North American Vertical 

Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88).

Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the North American Datum of 

1983 (NAD 83).

Altitude, as used in this report, refers to distance above the vertical datum.