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Cimarron River Basin

The Cimarron Basin covers nearly 6,800 square miles of the southwest corner of Kansas. The basin includes all or parts of 14 counties. The major river in the basin is the Cimarron. Principal tributaries of the Cimarron River in Kansas are the North Form Cimarron, Crooked Creek, Bluff Creek and on occasions of high runoff, Bear Creek. There are no major reservoirs in the basin. The principle source of water for all uses in the basin is ground water primarily from the Ogallala portion for the High Plains aquifer. Irrigation accounts for 97% of water used in the basin. The majority of the basin is closed to new water appropriations.

Map - Cimarron BAC Memmbers 


No. Member Name Representative
Category		 Term
Expires
1. Chair - Duane Brumbaugh, Protection, KS Municipal Public Water Supply (CC) 6/30/2015
2. Vice Chair - Ellen Verell, Meade, KS At Large Public 1 (BSC) 6/30/2013
3. Judith Adams, Meade, KS Recreation (CC) 6/30/2013
4. Luann Watson, Elkhart, KS At Large Public 4 (BSC) 6/30/2013
5. Thomas Robb, Hugoton, KS Industry/Commerce (CC) 6/30/2015
6. Gregory Shelor, Minneola, KS At Large Public 2 (BSC) 6/30/2013
7. J.D. Neufeld, Ulysses, KS At Large Public 3 (BSC) 6/30/2013
8. Rosanne Price, Meade, KS At Large Public (CC) 6/30/2015
9. Vacant Conservation/Environment (CC) 6/30/2015
10. Vacant Fish and Wildlife (CC) 6/30/2015
11. Vacant Agriculture (CC) 6/30/2015

u Cimarron Basin Advisory Committee Membership Application pdf image

Information Sheet - Attending a KWA Meeting as a Representative of your BAC

Cimarron BAC Member Update - Judy Adams

"As a land owner I find being involved in water resources planning provides an opportunity to work on relevant water issues that include conservation, wildlife, and land owner issues. The basin advisory committee (BAC) provides local identification of old and emerging water issues for our state. As a BAC member I contribute to the management of water through the Kansas Water Plan and can interact with others in my area and across the state. This allows me to learn, share information I have and have a voice on issues important to me and my part of the state. Recently a lot of effort has gone into the control of salt cedar along the Cimarron River with the goal of saving water for other uses including streamflow. Through the Water Plan process multiple control methods were tried and research into the effect on the water resources studied."

Judy Adams is a native Californian; however, has lived in rural Kansas for the past 30 years. She was elected to serve on the Cimarron BAC in 2007, and is currently chairman of that basin committee. Judy and her husband are ranchers in southern Meade County, Kansas and Beaver County, Oklahoma. They also operate a farm in Wabaunsee County, Kansas near Maple Hill. She has been involved in salt cedar control, stream flow issues, endangered species and other conservation related demonstration and research efforts on the ranch. David and Judy have received a number of conservation related awards as a result of their on-going beliefs in being good stewards of the land they own and operate.

Current Projects in the Cimarron Basin

  • Management of the Ogallala-High Plains aquifer Hydrologic Model - The Cimarron Basin is underlain by the Ogallala Formation of the High Plains aquifer, which serves as the principle source of water in the basin. Groundwater depletion due to the pumping of the Ogallala-High Plains and the overlying alluvial aquifers is occurring to varying degrees across the basin. Refined management of the aquifer is being developed by identification of areas (subunits), subunit goals and management tools. Goals are to manage the system for long-term sustainability and to conserve and extend the life of the Ogallala-High Plains aquifer.
  • Index Wells - The existing annual water level monitoring program does not and cannot deliver the required accuracy and precision for effective management of aquifer subunits. The problems have been reviewed extensively in KGS OFR 2002-25. To improve measuring of the aquifer's hydrologic responses at the local level a pilot program was initiated in 2007.
  • Practical Saturated Thickness (PST) -  PST considers only the net thickness of saturated sediments that significantly contribute to well yield from the water table down to the bedrock surface and differs from the saturated thickness (ST), which is the total thickness of saturated sediments between the water table and the bedrock surface. Please see the report of the initial evaluation of PST in GMD for more information. Additional work is underway to refine the use of PST with additional information to define an amount of water as well as its distribution (PST+).
  • Tamarisk Research - The impacts on water resources from non native plants such as salt cedar (tamarisk) and Russian olive have been studied to determine if control of these invasive species can conserve streamflow and alluvial water. More information on Tamarisk activities in Kansas can be found in the Tamarisk 10-Year Plan; Kansas Geological Survey Phreatophyte Research Project.
  • Critical Habitat Arkansas River Shiner - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Arkansas River Shiner Fact Sheet; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Species Profile; and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Species Description.

Past Meetings

  • April 3, 2012 - CIM BAC Meeting - 1:00 pm - Stauth Museum, 111 North Aztec, Montezuma, KS - Meeting Materials
  • January 25-26, 2012 - KWA, Topeka
  • November 3-4, 2011 - KWA, Lawrence
  • October 4, 2011 - CIM BAC Meeting - 1:00 p.m., Grant County Civic Center, Shockey Room, 1000 W. Patterson, Ulysses, KS - Meeting  Materials
  • August 11-12, 2011 - KWA, Lyons
  • July 25, 2011 - Cimarron BAC Meeting Conference Call, 11:00 a.m., KWO Conference Room, 901 S. Kansas Avenue, Topeka, KS - Meeting Materials
  • May 18-19, 2011 - Kansas Water Authority Meeting, Hill City Kansas
  • March 17, 2011 - Cimarron BAC Meeting, 1:00 p.m., Stauth Museum, 111 N. Aztec, Montezuma, KS - Meeting Materials

Questions? Contact Diane Coe - KWO Cimarron Basin Planner - Diane Coe's responsibilities include basin planning for the Cimarron, Upper Arkansas and Smoky Hill-Saline basins. Ms. Coe's primary areas of expertise and experience include groundwater, hydrogeology, and water quality. Ms. Coe is a licensed geologist with the Kansas Board of Technical Professionals and a Registered Environmental Health Specialist/Registered Sanitarian with the National Environmental Health Association.