HR: 0800h
AN: H31C-0391    [Abstracts]
TI: Hydrologic Observatory for the Republican River Basin/High Plains Aquifer: A Barometer for Global Climate Change
AU: Whittemore, D O
EM: donwhitt@kgs.ku.edu
AF: Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas 1930 Constant Ave, Lawrence, KS 66047-3726 United States
AU: Koelliker, J K
EM: koellik@ksu.edu
AF: Kansas State University, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Manhattan, KS 66056 United States
AU: Hoagland, K D
EM: khoagland@unl.edu
AF: University of Nebraska, Water Center, Lincoln, NE 68583 United States
AU: Sanford, W E
EM: bills@cnr.colostate.edu
AF: Colorado State University, Department of Geosciences, Fort Collins, CO 80523 United States
AU: * Butler, J J
EM: jbutler@kgs.ku.edu
AF: Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas 1930 Constant Ave, Lawrence, KS 66047-3726 United States
AB: The proposed Hydrologic Observatory (HO) for the Republican River Basin/High Plains Aquifer is an interconnected river basin and regional aquifer in an area of irrigated and dryland agriculture of substantial importance to the U.S. economy. The purpose of this observatory is to determine impacts of global climate change on the hydrologic cycle and ecosystem of a region that is particularly susceptible to such change. The HO includes a representative portion of the High Plains aquifer (the largest ground-water system in North America) and the largest river basin, the Republican River, which is entirely enclosed within that aquifer. The basin area of the Republican River included in the HO is 54,000 km$^{2}$. The area of the High Plains aquifer within the HO is larger than that of the Republican River watershed in order to include aquifer areas that interact with those within the HO. The HO can serve as a barometer for global climate change and concomitant land- and water-use responses because it includes a single physiographic province (Great Plains) and is located in a climatic transitional area where biomass response to moisture change is proportionately greater than in arid and humid climates. The HO has a surface- and ground-water system with easily definable boundary conditions allowing determination of an accurate water budget. It is a large enough area to allow averaging of local extremes, but small enough to permit detailed determination of the water budget given the funding level for HOs. Consumption of ground water in the aquifer, primarily for irrigation, has caused significant declines in water levels across large portions of the area. These declines and land conservation measures have caused appreciable long-term decreases in streamflow. Although the HO represents a hydrologic system where these human effects on the system have been substantial enough to be easily observed, the impacts are not so great that they cannot be managed to achieve a sustainable water resource. In some cases, these impacts have led to interstate disputes over the use of the water resources in the HO. The infrastructure in place to resolve these disputes ensures a long-term commitment to data collection that will greatly enhance efforts to establish a water balance for the HO.
DE: 1818 Evapotranspiration
DE: 1829 Groundwater hydrology
DE: 1848 Networks
DE: 1860 Runoff and streamflow
DE: 1871 Surface water quality
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting