Hydrologic Conditions in Kansas, Water Year 2018

The U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS), in cooperation with Federal, 

State, and local agencies, maintains 

a long-term network of hydrologic 

monitoring stations in Kansas. In water 

year (WY) 2018, this network included 

219 real-time streamgages (hereafter referred to as “gages”). A WY is 

the 12-month period from October 1 

through September 30 and is designated 

by the calendar year in which it ends. 

Real-time data are calibrated and validated by USGS personnel throughout 

the year with regular measurements of 

streamflow, gage height, and lake levels. 

These data and accompanying analyses 

provide an overview of hydrologic conditions in Kansas and help advance the 

Water year 2016

Water year 2017

Normal precipitation, in percent

EXPLANATION

175

150

125

110

100

90

75

50

25

Figure 1. Comparison of statewide 

percentage of normal (1981–2010) 

precipitation for water years 2016–17 

(https://water.weather.gov/ahps/).

understanding of water resources in the 

State. Annual assessments of hydrological conditions are made by comparing 

statistical analyses of current and past 

WY data for the period of record. Longterm monitoring of hydrologic conditions in Kansas provides imperative 

information for protecting human life 

and property, managing water supplies, 

forecasting floods, operating reservoirs, 

designing bridges and culverts, processing interstate and intrastate water rights 

claims, forecasting ecological conditions, and many other uses.

Preceding Conditions/

Precipitation Overview/Drought 

Conditions

WY 2016 had above average precipitation in Kansas, whereas WY 2017 

had normal to above normal precipitation in the western third and eastern 

border of the State and slightly below 

normal precipitation in much of the 

central and eastern parts of the State 

(fig. 1) (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2018). During 

WY 2018, normal to slightly above 

normal precipitation trends continued in 

the western part of the State, stretching 

into north-central Kansas. South-central 

and eastern Kansas experienced below 

normal precipitation. The percentage of 

normal precipitation in WY 18 is shown 

in figure 2.

Water year 2018

Figure 2. Comparison of statewide 

percentage of normal (1981–2010) 

precipitation for water year 2018 (https://

water.weather.gov/ahps/).

At the beginning of WY 2018, 

about 40 percent of the State was classified as abnormally dry, 10 percent as 

moderate drought, and about 1 percent 

as severe drought, primarily throughout central Kansas and the northeast 

corner of the State (National Drought 

Mitigation Center, 2018). By the end of 

WY 2018, drought conditions transitioned from the central part of Kansas 

to northeast and east-central Kansas, 

which had drought intensity classifications of about 21 percent as abnormally 

dry, nearly 15 percent as moderate 

drought, 10 percent as severe drought, 

about 6 percent as extreme drought, and 

about 1 percent as exceptional drought 

(National Drought Mitigation Center, 

2018), as shown in figures 3 and 4A. 

Areas of drought in Kansas at the end of 

WY 2018 correspond to areas of below 

Beginning of water year 2018

End of water year 2018

Abnormally dry

Moderate 

Severe 

Extreme

Exceptional

EXPLANATION

Drought intensity

Figure 3. Comparison of drought 

conditions in Kansas at the beginning 

and end of water year 2018 (https://

droughtmonitor.unl.edu/).

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2019–3042

October 2019
0

20

40

60

80

100

Kansas area, in percent

B. Water years 2012–17

9/1 2/1 7/1 12/1 5/1 10/1 3/1 8/1 1/1 6/1 11/1 4/1 9/1 2/1 7/1 12/1 5/1 10/1

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Date and calendar year

10/1 11/1 12/1 1/1 2/1 3/1 4/1 5/ 1 6/1 7/1 8/1 9/1 10/1

2017 2018

0

20

40

60

80

100

A. Water year 2018

Abnormally dry

Moderate 

Severe 

Extreme

Exceptional

EXPLANATION

Drought intensity

Figure 4. Percentage of areal coverage of drought conditions. A, Drought conditions for water year 2018; B, Drought conditions for water 

years 2012–17, Kansas (https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/).

average precipitation throughout the 

State during WY 2018. In comparison to 

previous WYs (fig. 4B), WY 2018 had a 

greater percentage of areal coverage of 

drought conditions than WYs 2015–17, 

and periods of exceptional drought 

conditions. However, the percentage of 

areal coverage of drought conditions did 

not reach the same magnitudes observed 

in WYs 2012 and 2013 (National 

Drought Mitigation Center, 2018).

Streamflow Conditions and 

Drainage Basin Runoff

Kansas experienced a wide range 

of streamflow conditions throughout WY 2018. At the beginning of 

WY 2018, most of the State experienced 

normal (25th–75th percentile) streamflow conditions, but above normal 

(76th–90th percentile) and much above 

normal (greater than 90th percentile) 

conditions were observed in the western, 

northeastern, and southeastern parts 

of the State. Below normal (10th–24th 

percentile) conditions were observed in 

central Kansas and the southwest corner 

of the State. The extent of much below 

normal and below normal streamflow 

conditions increased in coverage during 

the first half of WY 2018. By April, 

most of the eastern and southern parts of 

Kansas experienced below normal and 

much below normal conditions (fig. 5) 

that corresponds to drought condition 

locations (fig. 3), although some western 

Kansas streamflow conditions remained 

normal. In July, stream conditions in the 

western part of the State ranged between 

normal and much above normal, 

whereas below normal and much below 

normal conditions continued in parts of 

eastern and southwest Kansas. By the 

end of WY 2018, most stream conditions 

in Kansas fell within the normal, above 

normal, and much above normal conditions, but a small area in the southwest 

corner of the State had below normal 

conditions (fig. 5).

EXPLANATION

Low Above No data

normal Normal

<10 10–24 25–75 76–90 >90

Below

normal

Much below High

normal

Much above

normal

Percentile classes

October 2017 January 2018

April 2018 May 2018

July 2018 September 2018

Figure 5. Comparison of monthly streamflow conditions across Kansas throughout water 

year 2018 (https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/).
Cumulative Streamflow at 

Selected Streamgages

Two gages were selected to represent 

streamflow conditions for the State during 

WY 2018. One gage was selected in the 

western part of the State, where precipitation and subsequent streamflow conditions were higher during WY 2018, and 

one gage was selected in eastern Kansas, 

where emerging drought conditions were 

present during most of the WY. The locations of these gages are shown in figure 6.

The Smoky Hill River near Arnold, 

Kansas (USGS station 06861000), gage 

(shown in figs. 7 and 8 during low and 

higher flows, respectively) represents 

western Kansas, in particular the Smoky 

Hill-Saline watershed, which received 

above normal precipitation during 

WY 2018. The Smoky Hill River originates in eastern Colorado and flows east 

into the Kansas River near Junction City, 

Kans. (not shown), and it has a drainage 

area of 5,220 square miles (mi2, U.S. Geological Survey, 2018). At the beginning of 

the WY, observed cumulative streamflow 

(fig. 9) was above the 75th percentile of 

the daily mean cumulative streamflow. 

A dry winter that resulted in a trajectory 

below the 50th percentile (cumulative 

streamflow of daily median) followed. 

Heavy precipitation events in May, followed by persistent rainfall throughout the 

summer, resulted in the observed cumulative streamflow rising above the 75th 

percentile. Although observed cumulative 

streamflow rose above the 75th percentile, 

it was still more than an order of magnitude below the highest observed cumulative streamflow for the 67-year history of 

the gage, in part, because of antecedent 

drought conditions. 

Observed cumulative streamflow 

at the Dragoon Creek near Burlingame, 

Kans. (USGS station 06911900), gage 

(shown in figs. 10 and 11 during zero-low 

and higher flows, respectively) represents 

drought conditions that intensified during 

WY 2018 in eastern Kansas (fig. 12). 

Dragoon Creek, with a drainage area of 

114 mi2, originates in northeastern Kansas 

(U.S. Geological Survey, 2018). Observed 

cumulative streamflow at the beginning 

of the WY was near the 50th percentile 

of daily mean cumulative streamflow, 

followed by a progression toward and 

then below the cumulative daily 25th 

percentile. The WY ended slightly above 

the cumulative daily 25th percentile after 

06911900

Kansas River

Dragoon

Creek

06911900

06861000

Kansas River

Dragoon

Creek

Smoky Hill River Smoky Hill River

U.S. Geological Survey continuous-record

streamgage and site identifier

EXPLANATION

Base from U.S. Geological Survey National Elevation Dataset, 30-meter digital elevation model

Albers Equal-Area Conic projection, standard parallels 29°30’ N. and 45°30’ N., central meridian −96° W. 

North American Datum of 1983

North American Vertical Datum of 1988

95°

98° 97° 96° 100° 99° 101° 102° 40°

39°

38°

37°

06911900

0

0

25 50 75 100 MILES

25 50 75 100 KILOMETERS

Smoky Hill River

Smoky Hill River

Elevation, in feet above 

North American 

Vertical Datum 

of 1988

4,039

679

Reservoir

Figure 6. Locations of selected U.S. Geological Survey streamgages.

Figure 7. Smoky Hill River near Arnold, 

Kansas, during low flow conditions.

Figure 8. Smoky Hill River near Arnold, 

Kansas, during higher flow conditions.
Cumulative Streamflow, in millions of cubic feet

Cumulative flow between daily 25th and 75th percentiles

Cumulative streamflow of daily median

Lowest observed cumulative flow (1988)

Highest observed cumulative flow (1951)

Observed cumlative flow (2018)

OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP

USGS 06861000 SMOKY HILL R NR ARNOLD, KS

(Drainage area: 5220 square miles, Length of Record: 68 year) 20000

10000

1000

100

10

1

0.1

0.01

2017 2018 Last updated: 2019-03-04

Figure 9. Observed 

cumulative streamflow 

compared to cumulative 

streamflow of daily 

mean for the Smoky 

Hill River near Arnold, 

Kansas (U.S. Geological 

Survey station 

06861000), streamgage 

during water year 2018 

(https://waterwatch.

usgs.gov/).

Figure 10. Dragoon Creek near Burlingame, Kansas, during zero-low flow conditions.

Figure 11. Dragoon Creek near Burlingame, Kansas, during higher flow conditions. Cumulative Streamflow, in millions of cubic feet

Cumulative flow between daily 25th and 75th percentiles

Cumulative streamflow of daily median

Lowest observed cumulative flow (2018)

Highest observed cumulative flow (1999)

Observed cumlative flow (2018)

OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP

USGS 06911900 DRAGOON C NR BURLINGAME, KS

(Drainage area: 114 square miles, Length of Record: 58 year)

1000

100

6000

10

1

0.1

0.01

0.001

2017 2018 Last updated: 2019-03-04

Figure 12. Observed 

cumulative streamflow 

compared to cumulative 

streamflow of daily 

mean for the Dragoon 

Creek near Burlingame, 

Kansas (U.S. Geological 

Survey station 

06911900), streamgage 

during water year 2018 

(https://waterwatch.

usgs.gov/).

heavy precipitation events in August; 

however, WY 2018 had the lowest 

observed cumulative streamflow for the 

58-year period of record for this gage.

Summary

Streamflow conditions in Kansas 

during WY 2018 reflected precipitation 

and drought trends in the State. Above 

normal precipitation in western Kansas 

corresponds to the lessening of preexisting drought conditions. In the east, below 

normal precipitation corresponds to 

worsening drought conditions. The WY 

ended with predominately above normal 

and much above normal streamflow 

across the State.

References Cited

National Drought Mitigation Center, 

2018, United States Drought Monitor—Kansas: National Drought Mitigation Center, U.S. Drought Monitor 

web page, accessed November 7, 

2018, at https://droughtmonitor.unl.

edu/.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, 2018, Advanced 

hydrologic prediction service—2018 

precipitation maps for Kansas: 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, National Weather 

Service web page, accessed November 

7, 2018, at https://water.weather.gov/

precip/.

U.S. Geological Survey, 2018, USGS 

water data for the nation: U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System database, accessed 

November 7, 2018, at https://doi.

org/10.5066/F7P55KJN.

—By Angela H. Unrein

For more information about this 

publication, contact:

Director, USGS Kansas Water Science 

Center 

1217 Biltmore Drive

Lawrence, KS 66049

785–842–9909

For additional information, visit: https://

www.usgs.gov/centers/kswsc

Publishing support provided by the Rolla 

Publishing Service Center

ISSN 2327-6916 (print)

ISSN 2327-6932 (online)

https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20193042