The City of Wichita and the USGS have been working together to monitor water quality for a number projects affecting the City’s current and future water supplies. At the sampling site that was used for the demonstration, the USGS not only monitors the depth and flow of water in the Little Arkansas River, but it also collects "real time" information on water temperature, pH, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. This site was one of the first sites in the nation where this information was collected by automated instruments at the site, transmitted by radio signal to a satellite, and then downloaded to a computer at a USGS office (in this case the office located in Lawrence, KS) and then placed on a web page for public access. Using the information collected by this gage and others, the USGS has been able to use the information to predict the concentration of other constituents in the water that are more difficult to measure remotely. The City is planning to use the Little Arkansas River as a source of water to meet future water supply demands, and is information will make it easier for the City to treat that water to meet drinking water standards.

The City has also been working with the USGS on several other water quality projects. The USGS played a significant role in the recently completed Aquifer Storage and Recovery Demonstration Project. The City’s Water Supply Plan envisions capturing water from the Little Arkansas River and using it to refill that portion of the aquifer that has been depleted, and then using the water to meet peak water demands. During the five-year Demonstration Project the City explored ways to capture water from the Little Arkansas River, during times when the river had above-normal flows, and then recharge that water into the Equus Beds Aquifer. A very critical component of that recharge project is to assure that the aquifer would not be damaged by any recharge activities, and that the water quality of the aquifer would not by compromised. The USGS took the primary role to collect and analyze water samples for the project. During the project over 4,000 water samples were collected, and up to 400 different chemicals were tested in each sample. This massive water quality testing program has provided essential data needed to assure that the recharge project can be done safely.

As part of the full scale recharge project the City has also installed a network of water sampling wells in the aquifer called Index Wells. These wells, located at 38 sites throughout the area planned for the recharge project, will be used to monitor changes in water levels needed to help regulate the project and assure that the City does not impair the aquifer when it stores and recovers water in the aquifer. At each site there actually two wells, one shallow and one deep. The wells are designed to not only measure water depth, but to measure water quality. The USGS has already begun to collect and sample water from the Index Well network in order to establish the baseline water quality standards for the aquifer. Surprisingly, the USGS has already found that at 60% of the sites that existing water quality currently fails to meet drinking water standards, for either arsenic, nitrates or chlorides. This network will help to assure that the City’s recharge project does not impair water quality or quantity in the aquifer.

The City has also been working with farmers and producers in the Cheney Reservoir watershed for about 10 years to reduce pollution and sediment entering the reservoir. The USGS was involved with at six-year project to monitor water quality throughout the watershed. They are still currently collecting and sampling water at three sites in the watershed. This information is critical to analyzing changes in water quality, and in developing water treatment strategies for the City.

The City and the USGS believe that accurate and relevant water quality information is essential to making appropriate decisions in the development and protection of the City’s water supplies, and will continue to use comprehensive, and innovative, means to collect and analyze that important information.