Last week we discussed what normal is regarding precipitation and climate here in Kansas as well as what a drought is.  This week’s column discusses where water in the state is used and where does it come from.  First, something happened this week regarding water occurred.  As one of his final acts, Governor Colyer rescinded the emergency declaration regarding drought in the state citing improved moisture conditions and the fact that Kansas has been out of any drought conditions for over a month.  Good news indeed heading into 2019.

Where is our water used as a state?  Remember this isn’t counting rainfall directly but from aquifers, reservoirs, etc.  As a state, approximately eighty-five percent is used for irrigation, nine percent municipal, three percent industrial, and one percent each for recreation, stock water, and other uses.  However, that doesn’t tell the whole story.  Looking at it by region, especially county presents a different picture.  With the exception of a few counties such as Ford, Finney, Reno, and Barton, essentially one-hundred percent of the water used is for irrigation in the western two-thirds of the state.  Barton County is interesting as it is the only county in the west where recreational water usage is significant and that is water going to Cheyenne Bottoms.  The eastern third paints a different picture with several counties almost entirely municipal water usage and with a few exceptions, relative little or no irrigation.  And there are several counties such as Coffey and Linn more than half industrial.  This is breakdown is logical given state demographics One other item of interest is the total amount of water used.

With the exception of urban areas such as Wichita and the K.C. Metro, the most water used yearly focuses on Southwest Kansas and part of the northwest corner.  Naturally, water usage is highest where population centers are and where irrigated crop acreage allocations are highest.  Where does this water come from?

In much of Western Kansas where the irrigation is, it’s the Ogallala aquifer.  Some of it is surface waters like the Republican River and some from reservoirs such as Cheney Lake and Kannapolis. The source of that water varies.  For aquifers it’s percolating rainfall.  For reservoirs it’s stream flow into them.  For rivers like the Arkansas and Republican it’s tributaries feeding them.  Much of the Arkansas River water starts as snowfall in the mountains of Colorado.

This is terribly brief but sets up next week’s column on the water challenges the state is facing.