Purpose

Maintenance of hydrologic models allows for improving the understanding of the Equus Beds Aquifer through theaddition of current data and linkage of the separate models. Water use, water levels and climatic data provides the basis to evaluate the amount of water in storage as well as the effects of various water resource management techniques and programs. This allows the examination of solutions to conserve and extend the life of the aquifer with estimations of the impact of possible water management scenarios.

History

The Equus Beds Aquifer in south central Kansas is one of the principal sources of fresh water within the region. As currently developed, there are approximately 2,000 non-domestic water wells utilized on an average annual basis around 157,000 acre-feet of water. Dating back to 1940, the well field within the Equus Beds has been a primary source of supply for the city of Wichita.

Timeline

• January 2017: Kansas Geological Survey (KGS) completes sustainability assessment for Equus Beds Groundwater Management District No. 2 (GMD2)
• November 2017: Data Assembly completed for steady-state model
• April 2018:Calibrated transient model anticipated to be completed
• December 2018: Evaluate model scenarios
• Future: Model chloride transport simulations within GMD2 as well as evaluate potential remediation scenarios

Current Updates

KGS received FY 2016 funding to conduct a sustainability assessment for GMD2. This project used an approach that was recently developed at the KGS for assessing the prospects for groundwater sustainability in Kansas. The objective of the approach is to calculate Qstable, the average annual pumping that would produce stable aerially averaged water levels over a given area.  KGS open file report 2017-3 provides additional information on this recently completed assessment.

Building upon completion of the sustainability assessment for GMD2, KGS is currently working to develop both steady-state and transient models for groundwater conditions within the Equus Beds Aquifer. As of April 2018, an initial uncalibrated steady-state model has been completed.

Funding

GMD2 and KWO are funding partners on current modeling efforts.

Project Manager

Josh Olson

Supplemental documents for contractors