motramiftiolo Irrigation. which is increasing at a which would have the power to formu- rapid rate. is by far the largest use of late and enforce rules, to promotemore eaterin the stateof Kansas -nearly efficient methods of irrigating, to levy to ice as much asthe total amount used assessments, and to engage in and coop- for both municipaland industrial pur- erate in research on new ways of saving poses in 1966.In view of the increas- water. The Water Resources Board sup- ingly large amounts of water which it ported the 1968 legislation which enables will use, it is important to anticipate the the formation of such districts.These @26,10 1, growth of irrigation in order to deter- may now be formed in areas having mine its future demands upon our lim- similar groundwater characteristics and (b 28.7s itedwater supplies.The Water Re- problems. They would directly involve 25,71 sources Board hasjustpublisheda local people. @ 28.60 report. Irrigation in Kansas, which pre- Even with the adoption ofallthe (b25.60 dicts the magnitude and location of this water -saving measures now known, there future development and, by comparing )c21 are areas which are going to experience it with the available water and soil re- water shortages in the future.Water 25,2s sources,pointsouttheareas where @-0,20 shortages are likely to occur. users' districts could develop methods for distributing the available water ina 28.10 Irrigation can be expected to continue district so that everyone would get a @ 25,10 to increase in Kansas because of its ob- vious economic benefits. There is ade- fair share. They might also import water @ 25,10 from regions of groundwater surplusor CIA 24.60 quate land to support a large increase in from surface water stored in reservoirs. irrigation but there will' be shortages The central part of the state. particu- in the water supplies available for irriga- larly the south-central portion. is (a tion. At the present and projected rates more 18.70 fortunate than the extreme west withre- 14th year no. 29 September 17, 1968 @ 18,30 of withdrawal and with no changes in spect to water supply because of the recharge rates,the aquifers(ground - 18.25 favorable recharge characteristics of the © 18.20 O 17,90 are in this category due to the use of the next. 30 years other legislation was 17.85 self-propelled sprinkler systems. enacted to encourage irrigation. @ 17,80 As might be expected, the major The introduction of the turbine pump por- and the discovery of natural gas in south- O 17,70 tion of the irrigable land is located in western Kansas. However, with the ex- west Kansas helped to spur interest in O 17,60 ception of the Flint Hills region, there irrigation;however, development was 17, 50 are few areas in Kansas which do not relatively limited until after World War @ 17,40 have a considerable amount of poten- II. The availability of commercial ferti- @ 17,20 tially irrigable land. lizers and the drought of the 1950's 17.10 Figure 1 shows the land suitable for contributed significantly to the rapid in- irrigation which overlies aquifersgener- crease in irrigation in the past 20 years. 16,90 ally capable of yielding 100 gallonsper Irrigation acreage increased tenfold O 16.10 minute or more to wells. 'The combina- from 1910 to 1960 as shown in Figure 2. 236,00 tion of suitable land and adequate water It is anticipated that the irrigated acre- for irrigation in the western and south- age will double from the 1966 figure of O 193,00 central portions of the state is clearly 1.200.000 acres by 1980 and it could ******44x shown. The total irrigable area overly- double again by the year 2000.The only major irrigation developments prior from the ing aquifers capable of producing 100 to 195(1 were along the Arkansas River ga. gallons per minute or more is 15,600,000 and in Scott and Grant counties. Land acres. pringer Of thistotal.10.900.000 acres in the Arkansas River Valley was irri- have well \ ields which are generally 500 alves, gated with surface water or with water gallons per minute or more. pumped from relatively shallow wells in ,and 42 the alluvium.irrigation water was ob- Irrigation Development tainedfrom deep wellsinScott and Grant counties. ********* Irrigation has been practiced in west- Comparison of Figures 3 and 1. shows. ern Kansas since the earliestsettlers, first primarily by diversion from streams. the spread of irrigation development be -I tweet) 195(1 and 1966. During this pe- ION Laterwindmillswereintroducedto riod most of the increased irrigation pump water for the irrigation of small development used groundwater. Except areas of crops and gardens. In 1895, the for the Bureau of Reclamation projects, Kansas legislature created the Board of which serve around 70,000 acres at the Irrigation Survey and Experiment for presenttime, verylittle new surface the purpose of making a practical test of water development has taken place. Re- the water supply in the uplands of west- cently,irrigation has expanded most rys, ern Kansas for irrigation purposes. Over rapidly in the northwestern areas of the Study Shows LimitsTo Irrigation Exp ansion(Continued On Next Page) ans. Irrigation spreads further, wells go deeper, pumps gush more, as irrigation has become more and more important in Kansas. But there are limits, warns a recent study by the Kansas Water Resources Board. water reservoirs Iin some areas will not aquifers. The problems which may arise The article here comes front the Board's Kansas Water News, by John J. Pinney Jr., senior engineer. support irrigation withdrawals for more there with an increase in irrigation are Research than a few decades. The effects of over- those of poor water quality and poor Map values in thousands of acres draft on groundwater supplies are Research is now helm,. conducted on al- drainage.In several regions thereis (Less than 2,000 acres in unmarked counties) ready being felt in some local areas of methods of saving water or increasing the threat of encountering salt water in y ields w ith the same amount of water. southwestern Kansas where water levels the deeper formations. have dropped by as much as 100 feet Experiments .w with plastic mulching. in- In eastern Kansas, irrigation will be creasing the reflectivity of the ground, ina since irrigation began there two decades dependent upon the development of sur- ago. fog -type sprinkling. and other innova- It appears that large areas of west- face water supplies, and the main prob- ern Kansas, which have come to depend tions are showing promise. Research in - lem will be that of financing the develop- heavily on an irrigationeconomy, are theareasofevapotranspirationand going to experience water shortages in ment.In certain areas there will also artificial recharge is of vital importance be drainage problems.In some cases the not too distant future unlessevery to Kansas. Since the largest portion of effort is made to prolong the life of the the best approach to deal with these the water used for irrigationislost to problems will be through groups, but evaporation andtranspiration. saving aquifers through more carefuluse plus a small percentage of this loss would . Cattle the replenishment of the supplies wher- much of the time itwill be up to the oonsign individual to develop his own supplies. greatly extend the available supplies. ever possible. The state is now establishing an evapo- What is needed now in western Kansas Assistance to individuals or groups is transpiration laboratory in :Mai water - is an awareness of the magnitude of the available from the following agencies: conserving practices may be developed. 24.60 problem and the adoption of water- In some years large amounts of sur- saving practices by individual irrigators. 21.00 face water flow out of the areas which It has been estimated that the landnow STATE (technical assistance) facefutureshortages.itwouldhe il 17.10 beingirrigatedcould be irrigatedwith Kansas State University worthwhile to try to save some of this FIGURE 3. Estimated irrigated acreage in 1950. 24.40 about half Extension Service 6 amount of water which is Agricultural Experiment Station water by storing it in the underground actually being used, by incorporating Kansas Water Resources Board reservoirs.Research is needed to ex- known water -saving improvements. These Division of Water Resources, State Board plore the problems and possibilities of . includeusingundergroundpipefor of Agriculture doing this. The Water Resources Board 0 19.40 transmission from the well to the field, State Geological Survey, University of Kansas and U. S. Geological Survey are starting b 19.50 controlling phreatophytes, using sprin- a groundwater recharge demonstration FEDERAL il 19.50 kling systems. ponding andreusing tail U.S. Geological Survey(technical assist- project in Rush County this year. 19.50 water, controlling land slopes, metering ance) A program which is currently in prog- the water used, and planting 19.50 more adapt- ress by the Water Resources Board in- 0 able crops. Many irrigatorsare incorpo- cludes a study of groundwater use in ) 19.50 rating such improvements in theiropera- I S. Diliart ment of AgricultureI 11.1.1111i, di This study will :21111fin:111,1a! il1Slant, southwestern Kansas. 6 16.60 tions but muchcan stillbe done to attempt to determine optimum rates of increase water ConservationsoilSid% ice 16.90 use efficiency. Much can A gricti It ura ISt a Id liza t ion and Conserva- groundwater use in an area where con- . also be accomplished bythe formation tion Sicrvice siderable overdraft is taking place, eval- 13.90 of irrigation water users' organizations uatetheeffectthat depletionofthe ) 16.00 aquifers in southwestern Kansas would 17.15 have upon the state's economy, and ex- 16.55 10,000,000 aminealternativecoursesofaction 16.55 which the state might adopt in order to ) cope with the problems arising from 14.30 5,000,000 FIGURE 4.