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o [;j ~ w (0 (.ll The area is drained by two major str~ams, the North Canadian (Beaver) River and the Cimarron River, both of which are tributaries to the Arkansas River. The total drainag~ area within these coun- ties is 6,700 square miles with ,runoff of 10,400 acre-feet per year. The Ogallala formation of the tertitary age consists of a heterogenous mixture of sand, gravel, silt, clay, caliche, and local beds cemented with calcium carbonate. It is the principal source of water in the Oklahoma Panhandle. This formation wss deposited over the entire Oklahoma Panhandle, but has been re- moved locally by stream erosion and has been truncated completely by erosion, a short distance east of Beaver County. The maximum thickness of the Ogsllala is about 650 feet, but it thins along major drainsgewsys and oV~r bedrock highs. Sand and gravel of the Ogallala Formation are the principal sources of water. Well yields range from a few gallons per minute to more than 2,000 gallons per minute. Wells yielding less than 300 gpm are usually not completed for irrigation wells. Water from the Ogallala is generally chemically suitable for most purposes. Total hardness is usually more than 180 mg/l with some wells in the lower zones of the Ogallala containing dissolved solids in excess of 5,000 mg/l. The average groundwater gradient is eastward at 14 feet per mile. Because of this eastern gradient, no large volumes of water enter or leave the area from Kansas or Texas and only small quantities are entering from New Mexico border becuase the Ogallala is above the water table except in the extreme southwestern corner of Cimarron County. The Panhandle region of Oklahoma was called No Man'. Land until 1890 wh~n it became' Oklahoma's seventh county. Development to this point had been slow and was further retarded by the Dust Bowl Era. The 1970 population totaled 26,779 with projected population of 33,200 in 2020. Employment records of the total labor force show 31% in agriculture and the remaining 69% in domestic services, self-employed and unpaid fsmily works, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, government, construction, mining, finance, in- surance, real estate and other services. Municipalities in the area with populations over 1,000 in 1970 are: City BeaVer Boise Ci ty Goodwell Guymon Hooker 1970 Population 1,853 1,993 1,467 7 J 640 1,615 111 I I - ---~ I I I I ---- I I I I I I I I I I I I I