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<br />Ground water is most everywhere hidden from view, <br />filling voids in rocks and soils beneath the land surface. <br />Only in a few places where it erupts as geysers, flows <br />from springs, significantly augments streamflow by <br />influents, or surfaces as a marsh or natural lake, does it <br />attract general attention. Despite its unimposing nature, <br />ground water has played and will continue to play an <br />important role in meeting many needs of the people in <br />their progressive development of the basin. <br />Its widespread occurrence has enabled development, <br />-FtGtJRE---z6-----partiCUlaITy-lOr- agriCUlture remote from perennial <br />MONTHLY DISTRIBUTION OF HISTORICAL AVERAGE STREAMFLOW streams. In some locations the abundance of ground <br />MISSOURI RIVER HERMAN N, MISSOURI water has permitted municipal, industrial, and irrigation <br />development where its quality was better or it was more <br />readily available than surface water. Ground-water <br />influents provide the base flow for many surface streams <br />which otherwise would flow only after runoff-producing <br />precipitation. In some cases the stream beds lie above <br />the water table and the streams lose water to the <br /> <br />departures from average can be gained from table 26 <br />which shows the average annual precipitation within the <br />eight subbasins, or portions thereof, and that for the <br />minimum 5-year and I-year periods of record thru ] 966. <br />Also this emphasizes the variations between subbasins <br />and their eastern and western areas. <br /> <br />Table 26 -AVERAGE ANNUAL AND 5- AND 1-YEAR <br />MINIMUM PRECIPITATION THROUGH 1966 <br /> <br /> Precipitation <br /> Minimum <br /> Average 5-Year Minimum <br />Subbasin or Area Annual Average I-Year <br /> (Inches) <br />Upper Missouri 15.2 11.6 8.6 <br />Yellowstone 16.1 12.8 8.8 <br />Western Dakota 17.0 13.3 8.8 <br />Eastern Dakota 19.6 15.5 11.1 <br />Platte-Niobrara <br />E of 102 Longitude 22.8 15.4 12.4 <br />Platte-Niobrara <br />W of 102 Longitude 16.2 13.1 9.6 <br />Middle Missouri 29.2 22.3 13.3 <br />Kansas E of <br />990 Longitude 28.1 21.4 13.0 <br />Kansas W of <br />990 Longitude 20.4 15.0 11.2 <br />Lower Missouri 37.8 29.8 24.7 <br />Misso uri Basin <br />above Sioux City 16.5 12.8 10.4 <br />Missouri Basin Total 19.9 16.1 13.5 <br /> <br />The preceding table illustrates severe departures from <br />average of the subnormal periods of annual precipita- <br />tion. The low-water flows would show even greater <br />departures in most cases as the plant life in such periods <br />utilizes as much moisture as is available to them, and a <br />larger proportion of the rainfall and soil moisture thus is <br />used in evapotranspiration, resulting in plant stress, low <br />runoff, and in low streamflow. <br />While the flow of the Missouri River at Hermann in <br />anyone year appears to have a random occurrence, there <br />have been extended periods of below-normal flows, as <br />experienced from 1930 to 1941, and 1953 to 1959, as <br />well as periods of above-normal flows. For the total <br />period of record about 62 percent of the historical <br />average annual flow occurred in the 5 months March <br />through July, as shown in figure 26. <br /> <br />w <br />~ I~ <br />~~ <br />~~ <br />"" <br />10 <br /> <br /> <br />"J <br />C" <br />>-~ <br />ZZ <br />wZ 5 <br />~~ <br /> <br /> <br />60 <br /> <br />Utilization <br /> <br />Historical streamflow volumes are not a true measure <br />of the runoff potential of the basin, as historical flow <br />data reflect only the residual flows after historical use. <br />The use of surface stream flows of the Missouri Basin has <br />continued to grow since the first notable use of the <br />water in the mid-1800's, and with an increasing volume <br />of reservoir storage to accommodate the mounting uses <br />and to provide high-flow control. Figure 25 shows the <br />overall growth of streamflow depletions (consumption) <br />in the Missouri Basin. A distribution of the various types <br />of streamflow depletions is shown in table 27 for the <br />] 970 condition. <br /> <br />Table 27 - AVERAGE ANNUAL STREAMFLOW <br />DEPLETIONS THROUGH 1970- <br />MISSOURI BASIN <br /> <br />Type of Use <br /> <br />Average Annual <br />Streamflow Depletion <br /> <br />(Acre-Feet) <br />8,141,000 <br /> <br />- 5,000 <br />210 ,000 <br />140,000 <br />37,000 <br />1,818,000 <br />313 ,000 <br />824,000 <br />303,000 <br />340,000 <br />200,000 <br />- 82,000 <br />- 542,000 <br /> <br />11 ,697,000 <br /> <br />Irrigation <br />Irrigation Systems Rehabilitation <br />(Savings) <br />Municipal and Rural Domestic <br />Industrial and Mineral <br />Thermal-Electric Power <br />Large Reservoir Evaporation <br />Small Reservoir Evaporation <br />Minor Ponds Evaporation <br />Livestock <br />Wa tershed Protection <br />Wetlands and Fish & Wildlife Areas <br />Forestry Management (Added Water) <br />Importations (Added Water) <br /> <br />Missouri Basin <br /> <br />GROUND WATER <br />