Fresh water is the lifeblood of farming.
Throughout Kansas, however, the amount of precipitation varies greatly. With runoff in the east one hundred times greater than runoff in the west, most of the larger Kansas rivers, lakes and reservoirs occur in the eastern half of the state. With substantially less precipitation and surface water in the west, the main source of water in western Kansas is groundwater drawn from the Ogallala Aquifer. Through hands-on activity, this simulation will help students develop an understanding of how water in Kansas is appropriated and regulated. The geographically informed person knows and understands how people depend on the physical environment, how people modify the physical environment, and that the physical environment can both accommodate and be endangered by human activities.