Water-quality and geochemical variability in the Little Arkansas River and Equus Beds aquifer, south-central Kansas, 2001–16

Abstract

This fact sheet describes water quality and geochemistry of the Little Arkansas River and Equus Beds aquifer during 2001 through 2016 as part of the City of Wichita’s Equus Beds aquifer storage and recovery project in south-central Kansas. The Equus Beds aquifer storage and recovery project was developed to help meet future water demand by pumping water out of the Little Arkansas River (during above-base-flow conditions), treating it using National Primary Drinking Water Regulations as a guideline, and injecting it into the aquifer for later use. Water-quality data were collected and analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey from 2 Little Arkansas River surface-water sites and 63 Equus Beds groundwater sites, including 38 areal assessment index wells, each of which has a shallow well and a deep well. About 4,700 surface and groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for more than 300 water-quality constituents. About 1,300 groundwater chemistry samples were geochemically modeled. Constituents of concern in the Equus Beds aquifer exceeded their respective Federal criteria throughout the study period and included chloride, sulfate, nitrate plus nitrite, Escherichia coli ( E. coli ), total coliforms, and dissolved iron and arsenic species.