Laserfiche WebLink
<br />0016\)6 <br /> <br />3 <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />This report is part B of the sixth in a series of studies of Kansas <br />streamnow characteristics undertaken as a part of the cooperative pro- <br />grams for water resources investigations between State of Kansas agencies <br />and the U.S. Geological Survey. Prior technical reports in the series pub- <br />lished by the Kansas Water Resources Board have included investigations <br />of the following: (No.1), the percent of time that streamnow of a given <br />magnitude can be expected to be equalled or exceeded; (No.2), the fre- <br />quency that minimum now for periods of given length may fall below vari- <br />ous rates; (No.3), the magnitude and frequency of nood discharges; (No. <br />4), the adequacy of various storage capacities to sustain the low now of <br />streams above various rates; and (No.5), the adequacy of various storage <br />capacities to limit nood releases below various rates. The sixth report is <br />an analysis of base flow, or that now largely derived from ground-water <br />sources. To release information as quickly as possible, report no. 6 is <br />being published in several parts. Part A, already released, contains prin- <br />cipally the basic data of base now. This report, part B, presents the dis- <br />tribution of base now with respect to location, time, and probability. A <br />subsequent part will provide information on the recession rates and other <br />characteristics of base now. <br /> <br />Base now as used in this report is that part of total streamflow re- <br />maining if storm runoff were extracted and precipitation continued to sup- <br />ply the usual accretions of now via the ground. Typical of streams in the <br />mid-continent areas, the total stream now in Kansas is essentially that of <br />base now during 40 to 80 percent of the days. But interspersed between <br />these days are days of storm runoff, sometimes in large amounts. Ear- <br />lier reports (Furness, 1959, 1960) had showed how frequently the total now <br />of Kansas streams may be expected to reach certain low amounts. Except <br />for the extreme lowest discharge, storm runoff was likely to be included in <br />this determination. Appropriately, the experienced storm runoff should be <br />included in the investigation of low-now problems provided the river basins <br />remain in unregulated condition. But this condition will not continue. Al- <br />ready in Kansas there are 20 large federal reservoirs completed or under <br />construction, 124 small lakes, 70,000 farm ponds, and 184 detention reser- <br />voirs completed or under construction in watershed districts. Organized <br />watershed districts presently cover one-fourth of the eastern one-half of <br />Kansas. The number of these developments will undoubtedly continue to <br />expand. Storage in other than the large federal reservoirs will consist <br />primarily of surface runoff which will then be depleted by evaporation plus <br />any consumptive use of the storage. Thus surface runoff will not be a de- <br />pendable source of water supply further downstream, and future low-flow <br />problems in these basins must be answered by an analysis of the expected <br />