Water Resource Data
Accurate and timely data is crucial to both planning and management of water resources in Kansas. It is a policy of the state that all state agencies with responsibilities affecting water resources of the state shall carry on basic data collection, research and analyses concerning matters relating to the water resources of the state. It is a policy of the state that the Kansas Water Office (KWO) to review and coordinate financial assistance for research that may be provided by federal or state agencies to public corporations concerned with management, conservation and development of water resources to prevent duplication of effort (K.S.A. 82a-901 et seq). The KWO has a mandate to collect and compile information pertaining to a wide range of water issues and, in so doing, collect and compile information obtainable from other agencies, instrumentalities and political subdivisions of the state and the federal government (K.S.A. 74-2608 et seq).
Provided below is information on how to access various sources of
water quality and quantity data. The KWO will continue to update
this webpage as additional sources of data become available.
The Kansas Data Access and Support Center (DASC) catalog includes
175 layers of spatial data that may be downloaded for use in map
development or assessments. Water resource spatial data includes
aquifer extents, watershed boundaries, National Hydrography Dataset
(NHD) and public water supply sites. To view the catalog and access
data, visit
www.kansasgis.org.
STORET is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) database of
ambient environmental data relating to water quality, biological,
and physical data and is used by the Kansas Department of Health and
Environment to store some Kansas water quality data. To browse or
download STORET data, go to
www.epa.gov/storet.
U.S. Geological Survey Collected Water Information
The USGS has also collected Water quality data on the High Plains
aquifer, as part of the National Water Quality Assessment program
(NAWQA) studies on major
aquifers. Water samples
from the northern High Plains aquifer were analyzed for 170 water
quality constituents.
The study is to provide a broad overview of groundwater quality in
the Ogallala portion of the High Plains aquifer.
http://infotrek.er.usgs.gov/doc/nawqa_www/navigate/query_nav.htm
Kansas State University maintains a Weather Data Library which
includes information on precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil
temperatures, and other climatological data. The Weather Data
Library can be accessed on-line at
http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/wdl/.
The Kansas Master Well Index brings together several fresh water
well data sets into one comprehensive, accessible data site.
It is under construction by the Kansas Geological Survey, and
is on track to be ready for public use in January 2012.
Water well completion records and driller logs (WWC-5) files,
water right allocations and annual water use, and depth to water
table will be available at the site.
The Master Well Inventory does not replace any data set, but
provides the means to access all available information about a
groundwater well site in one location.
Once site construction is completed, it will be maintained by
the KGS. To view this
site when available, go to:
http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Hydro/hydroIndex.html
