The drought monitor, as of Tuesday, February 3rd, indicates a little deterioration from last week to moderately dry in extreme northwest and along the Missouri border and a sliver on the Oklahoma border in South Central Kansas. The six to ten day forecast (February 10 to 14) indicates a 80 to 90% chance of likely above normal for temperatures and a 33 to 40% chance of leaning above normal for precipitation. The eight to fourteen-day forecast indicates (February 12 to 18) indicates a 60 to 70% chance of likely above normal for temperatures and a continued 33 to 40% chance of leaning above normal for precipitation.
You can’t live in Kansas, especially the western half of the state, and not think about water (or the lack of it). While 2025 was a good year overall for precipitation, the previous five years saw much of the state in varying degrees of severe to extreme and even exceptional drought. Throughout the history of Kansas, producers have experienced drought cycles followed by normal to above normal periods of precipitation. There was an approximately twenty year cycle with drought cycles occurring in the 1930s, 1950s, 1970s. However, over the last forty or so years, droughts are occurring more often and with greater severity. By many measures, the recent drought period was worse than the “Dirty Thirties.” But thanks to improved cultural practices (conservation tillage and improved irrigation for example) and improved plan breeding techniques, producers, within limits, were better able to cope.
The legislature and Governor have made water conservation, especially of the Ogalala and other aquifers in the western half of the state a priority, to extend the life of the aquifer and irrigated crop production, there is much more to consider. Today a brief overview of water sources and use with next week discussing conservation measures.
In Kansas we have the sources of water – groundwater (aquifers), reservoirs, and surface water (rivers). Groundwater is the primary source in Western Kansas. As you move to the central and eastern parts of the state, reservoirs and rivers become more important. For example, a city like Wichita has Cheney Lake and wells as their primary source of water. Parts of the state have little groundwater.
As a whole, around 80% of our water resource use is irrigation, 10% municipal, 3% industrial, and around 1% each for livestock and recreation. The percentages vary across the state. In Southwest Kansas, some counties water usage is essentially 100% agricultural. In the eastern third of the state, industry is the largest consumptive user, and municipal use predominates in urban centers.
To help understand usage further, average rainfall varies dramatically across the state. Southeast Kansas is around forty inches annually on average. The eastern half of the state is in that thirty plus inches which decrease gradually as you move west. Here in the Great Bend area, it’s around 26 to 28 inches. It continues to decrease heading to the Colorado border till the average is around fourteen to sixteen inches.