WSP10478

• File Number: 8407.600
• Description: Platte River Basin - River Basin General Publications - Kansas General Publications
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Water Division: 1
• Date: 12/1/1942
• Author: Kansas Board of Agri
• Title: Report of the State Board of Agriculture - Volume LXI - Progress on a State Plan of Water Resources Development
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Water Resources Development

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Sinks are present locally. Emergence of ground water tends ~ome-
what to equalize surfaee runoff. Most of the ~treams are small and
gradient ~teep in the Permian area.
The Pennsylvanian part of the Neosho basin differs from the
Permian chiefly in its less rugged topography, which reflects a
greater thickness of soft rocks (shale) that make plains or low-
lands, and the wider spaeing of the hard escarpment-making lime-
stone in the Pennsylvanian area. Also, sandstone strata are promi-
nent in some sections of the river's basin below the mouth of the
Cottonwood. Most of the bedrocks are ineffective in collecting and
carrying ground water. Lateral erosion by the Neo~ho in some
~oft-rock sections, as near Le Roy in Coffey county and in western
Cherokee county near Chetopa, produces unusually wide bottom
land.
Both in the Permian and Pennsylvanian areas the rock strata dip
generally upstream at an average rate of 15 to 20 feet per mile.
The trend of outcrops is almost at. right angles across the general
course of the ~tream. This provides conditions suitable for con-
struction of dams at a number of localities where hard rocks are
crossed by the river.

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The Soil

By PROP. R. 1. THROCltMURTON

. The soils of the Neosho basin, with the exception of the alluvial
deposits along the stream~, have been formed in place from the
weathering of limestone, sandstone, and shale. They consist largely
of silt loam and silty clay loam with a subsoil or B horizon of clay.
In those areas where the topography is level or gently sloping the
subsoil consists of a dense claypan. There are local areas of sandy
loam with, loose easily penetrated subsoils, but most of the soils
and subsoils are so heavy that water penetration is slow. In many
of the rolling to hilly areas the soils are shallow and are underlain
with shales, sandstones, and limestones. In the Flint Hills the
subsoils consist of gravelly and stony clays. The vegetation of the
Flint Hills consists almost exclusively of the native tall grasses. The
cultivated soils of the Basin with the exception of the more level
areas are subject to relatively severe sheet and gully erosion.

The Stream System

The total area of the Neosho basin in Kansas is 6,285 square
miles, including 505 square miles in the extreme southeast corner of
the state which drain into Spring river, a tributary heading in
western Missouri and joining the Neosho near Wyandotte, Okla-

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