The Origin and Evolution of Safe-Yield Policies in the Kansas Groundwater Management Districts

The management of groundwater resources in Kansas continues to evolve. Declines in theHigh Plains aquifer led to the establishment of groundwater management districts in themid-1970s and reduced streamflows prompted the enactment of minimum desirable streamflowstandards in the mid-1980s. Nonetheless, groundwater levels and streamflows continued todecline, although at reduced rates compared to premid-1980s rates. As a result, safe-yieldpolicies were revised to take into account natural groundwater discharge in the form of streambaseflow. These policies, although a step in the right direction, are deficient in several ways.In addition to the need for more accurate recharge data, pumping-induced streamflow depletion,natural stream losses, and groundwater evapotranspiration need to be accounted for in therevised safe-yield policies. Furthermore, the choice of the 90% flow-duration statistic as ameasure of baseflow needs to be reevaluated, as it significantly underestimates mean baseflowestimated from baseflow separation computer programs; moreover, baseflow estimation needsto be refined and validated.