Kansas Geological Survey
Link to: Kansas Geological Survey Website
NGWMN Contact:
Brownie Wilson
(785) 864-2118
The Kansas Geological Survey (KGS) is a water-level data provider to the National Groundwater Monitoring Network (NGWMN). KGS monitors nearly 1,400 wells, many of which are located in the High Plains aquifer, and an increasing number of sites are beginning to serve continuous data. Currently, KGS provides data from 210 well sites to the NGWMN Portal. KGS has been a part of the Network since 2016.
KGS provides water-level data from the High Plains Principal aquifer.
NGWMN Projects:
Initial project to become a NGWMN data provider.
Project to support maintenance of database connections to NGWMN portal.
Project to provide persistent data services and drill new wells for the NGWMN. Five new wells drilled in the Kansas River Alluvial aquifer system. Limited monitoring is currently being done in this aquifer which supplies large amounts of water in Northeast Kansas.
Project to expand sites in the High Plains aquifer, support persistent data services for 1 year, and perform well maintenance activities. New sites in the High Plains aquifer are to support the USGS High Plains aquifer assessment effort. Maintenance work is redeveloping and airlifting four Trend wells to preserve good aquifer connection.
Project is to provide persistent data services for two years to ensure that data continues to flow to the NGWMN Data Portal and that sites and site information are up to date. They will also drill 2 new wells nests in the High Plains aquifer (2 wells each).
2023: 7/15/2023 to 7/14/2025
Project is to provide persistent data services for two years to ensure that data continues to flow to the NGWMN Data Portal and that sites and site information are up to date. They will also drill 2 new trend wells in the High Plains aquifer in northwestern and southwestern Kansas.
NGWMN Presentations:
Site Selection and Classification
Site Selection
KGS wells were reviewed for sites that were 1) measured in the winter months every year since 2012 and 2) had matching Water Well Completion Records Database (WWC5) well records, indicating the availability of construction and lithologic data for the site. The wells were further selected subjectively to provide a uniform distribution across the Kansas High Plains aquifer region. A total of 133 Kansas Cooperative Network wells were selected as surveillance wells and linked to the NGWMN.
Site Classification
"Trend" wells are true observation wells. They are typically fewer in number within a network but collect data at more frequent intervals to track water levels through the year and across seasons. Well sites in the Kansas Index Well Program meet these requirements as each is equipped with a down-hole sensor to continuously record hourly water levels and telemetry systems that provide near real-time access (within four hours). At the start of this project, Kansas had four operational index wells sites that were selected to be "Trend" wells in the NGWMN. Over the summer months of 2016, three additional index well sites were drilled and another two existing observation wells were equipped with pressure transducers and telemetry units. These additional index well sites will be included in the NGWMN in calendar year 2017.
"Surveillance" wells, by NGWMN definition, measure the water table less frequently than trend wells, but they are found in greater numbers within a network. KGS is composed primarily of "Surveillance" wells in that measurements are taken annually, primarily in the winter month of January, and the wells are spatially distributed across the entire extent of the Kansas High Plains aquifer region. The same set of wells are targeted to be measured to track long-term changes in the water table. Numerous sites have measurement histories going back to the 1960s and earlier. Invariably, some wells are unable to be measured and wells are added and dropped from the network each year.
KGS also classified sites into the follow subnetworks: Background (little or no documented anthropogenic effect), Suspected (suspected or anticipated anthropogenic effects), or Documented (known anthropogenic effects). Groundwater development and water-level changes in Kansas have been well documented over time (Fross et al., 2012; Whittemore et al., 2016), so all of the 137 Kansas wells (surveillance and trend) were designated as being in the "Documented Changes" subnetwork for the NGWMN.
Data Collection Techniques
KGS sites are measured primarily in the month of January. Customized software developed by the KGS, coupled with global positioning systems, is used to make sure the same wells are visited each year. Wells are measured manually using steel or electric tapes, both having precisions down to the hundredth of a foot. Measurements are field checked on site at the time of the visit to insure locational accuracy and that the current measurement is within the historical trend of past measurements. Additional statistical and GIS reviews are conducted later to identify abnormal or anomalous measurements, which are flagged in the database accordingly. If deemed necessary, well sites will be re-measured the same day or within a month, depending on the circumstances.
In addition to manual water-level measurement, the Water Information Storage and Retrieval Database (WIZARD) database incorporates a collection of continuously monitored wells (water levels recorded every hour) equipped with telemetry systems that provide real-time access to water-level data throughout the year. In Kansas, these continuously measured wells are referred to as 'Index Wells' (Butler et al., 2016).
The WWC5 database is the state's most comprehensive, single collection of groundwater well records across the entire state containing information submitted by water well drillers to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Starting in the mid-1970s, drilling companies were mandated by state legislation to provide information about the location, type, use, casing, lithology, and other specifications for every well that is constructed, re-constructed, or plugged in Kansas. The KGS is charged by statute to store and serve these data to the public. Data are used to track groundwater development and categorize the lithologic descriptions into common groups from which aquifer properties such as hydraulic conductivities and specific yields can be better estimated.
Information on Measuring Water Levels in Kansas is available on the KGS web site at Kansas Geological Survey, Public Information Circular (PIC) 12.
Data Management
The KGS administers two principle groundwater well inventories used in this project that address water levels and well construction: the WIZARD and WWC5. Both datasets are stored natively in Oracle, an enterprise-level relational database management system.
WIZARD evolved from the U.S. Geological Survey's Ground Water Site Inventory in the mid- 1990s (Hausberger et al., 1998) and today represents the largest repository of depth-to-water measurements in Kansas. Well sites are used to track temporal changes in water table elevations and estimates of water availability. The KGS works in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources (KDA-DWR) to annually measure approximately 1,400 wells as part of the Kansas Cooperative Water-Level Network (Miller et al., 1998). The majority of sites are production wells, typically irrigation wells. Additional water levels, measured semi-annually and quarterly, are routinely submitted to WIZARD from other state and local groundwater management district networks.
Other Agency Information
Web sites of Interest
Kansas High Plain Aquifer Atlas
Agency use of monitoring data
Water-level change maps
Estimate useable lifetime of High Plains aquifer
Saturated thickness maps
Using lithology data to make cross-sections