January 1996 Kansas Water Levels and Data Related to Water-Level Changes

Abstract

Water levels measured in January 1996 showed the effects of the increase in annual precipitation over most of Kansas during 1995. The 1996 sample exhibited an average water-level decline of 0.5 ft (15 cm) since the 1995 measurements compared to 1.7 ft (52 cm) during the 1994–95 period. This is probably because of an increase in recharge since the 1995 measurements. The single largest rise in water level was 20.0 ft (6.10 m), and the largest decline was 20.2 ft (6.16 m). Annual water-level declines outnumbered rises 54% to 46% for wells in this report. Regional breakdowns of the data indicate a strong trend of water-level increase in areas where the water table is shallow and irrigation pumpage is low and a continuing trend of water-level decline where the water table is deep and irrigation pumping is appreciable. There are small areas of sharp decline despite increases in average 1995 precipitation for the region. The greatest change (from decline to rise) occurred in the northern, central, and eastem portions of region V (south-central Kansas).