Local relief is mostly a few tens of meters, but the large valleys are 50 m or more below the adjacent uplands. Average annual precipitation - 625 mm in the west to 900 mm in the east. Maximum precipitation is in spring, and the minimum is in winter. Snowfall ranges from 30 cm in the north to 10 cm in the south. The moderate and somewhat erratic rainfall is the source of water for range and crops.
Large reservoirs provide water for cities and towns and for recreation or flood control.
Farm ponds are a major source of water for livestock. In most of the area, shallow wells supply water for domestic use, but ground water is scarce in places where sandstone and shale are near the surface. The major soils are Ustalfs and Ochrepts. They have a thermic temperature regime and an ustic moisture regime. The Ustalfs are loamy and have a loamy or clayey subsoil and siliceous or mixed mineralogy.