Agency Cooperation
The Upper Arkansas River Corridor Study is a Kansas Water Plan project conducted for the Kansas Water Office.
Relevance to Fiscal Year 2002 Kansas Water Plan
Policy Section--Water Quality
Kansas Water Plan 2010 Objectives
By 2010, reduce the average concentration of bacteria, biochemical oxygen demand, dissolved solids, metals, nutrients, pesticides and sediment that adversely affect the water quality of Kansas lakes and streams.
By 2010, reduce the average concentration of dissolved solids, metals, nitrates, pesticides and volatile organic chemicals that adversely affect the water quality of Kansas ground water.
By 2010, ensure that water-quality conditions are maintained at a level equal to or better than year 2000 conditions.
Basin Section--Upper Arkansas--Water Quality
Enhance current efforts to document the fate and effects of contaminated Arkansas River flows on the alluvial, Ogallala, and Dakota aquifers in the valley.
Clearly establish the links between decreased flow in the Arkansas River, increased levels of water contamination in the alluvial, Ogallala, and Dakota aquifers, and lowered ground water tables.
The Upper Arkansas River corridor study by the Kansas Geological Survey under contract with the Kansas Water Office, is characterizing the water quality within the river corridor with an emphasis on the distribution and migration of salinity and nitrate, and implications of saltwater migration on management strategies. The goal of the study is to maintain the availability of freshwater supplies from the High Plains aquifer adjacent to the Arkansas River between the Colorado state line and Dodge City.
Other cooperating agencies
The main cooperating agency is the Division of Water Resources, Kansas Department of Agriculture. The project has been conducted in cooperation with staff of the Subbasin Water Resources Management Program, in particular, in the Upper Arkansas River Subbasin.
The following agencies have assisted in sample collection, participated in technical advisory committee meetings, or have helped in providing data.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Southwest Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 3
Southwest Kansas Local Environmental Planning Group
Pesticide and Fertilizer Program, Kansas Department of Agriculture
KSU Southwest Research Extension Center
Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) in the Great Plains
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks