Garden City

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The DWR Garden City Field Office is open to the public by appointment during regular business hours. Please call 620-276-2901 or 620-765-7110, or email Mike.Meyer@ks.gov to schedule an appointment.

Mike Meyer - Water Commissioner

The Garden City Field Office area covers 17 counties located in the western and southwestern portion of Kansas. Under the supervision of its Water Commissioner, the Garden City Field Office staff act as agents of the Chief Engineer to supervise the use of water in accordance with federal and state laws, including federal court decrees, the Kansas Water Appropriation Act, the Groundwater Management District Act, and rules and regulations about water administration.

This office administers 37% of the water rights in the state. The predominant water supply for the area is groundwater in the High Plains aquifer system, with other freshwater supplies available from the Dakota aquifer system and the Morrison formation aquifer.

The main use of surface water is from the Arkansas River by irrigation ditch companies in accordance with federal court decrees and an interstate compact agreement with the state of Colorado.

The prevalent use of water in the area is groundwater pumped for irrigation purposes. More than 97% of the groundwater is used for irrigation. The remaining use of groundwater is for large confined livestock and dairy operations, municipal, industrial, recreational and domestic supplies.

Some of the principal responsibilities of the Garden City Field Office include:

Supervising the distribution of waters according to established rights and priorities
Monitoring short-term and long-term hydrological conditions by means of groundwater level measurements and stream flow measurements
Assisting the public with a variety of water related issues
Enforcing special terms and conditions of water rights, including flowmeter maintenance
Assuring compliance with special orders of the Chief Engineer with regard to Intensive Groundwater Use Control Areas (IGUCA)

Two Groundwater Management Districts and several special control areas and project areas are located in the Garden City field office area. They are: