Ninnescah River Research Articles

Constructing Long‐Term Hydrographs for River Climate‐Resilience: A Novel Approach for Studying Centennial to Millennial River Behavior

AbstractStudying the centennial or millennial timescale response of large rivers to changing patterns in precipitation, discharge, flood intensity and recurrence, and associated sediment erosion is critical for understanding long‐term fluvial geomorphic adjustment to climate. Long hydrographs, maintaining reliable Flow Duration Curves (FDCs), are a fundamental input for such simulations; however, recorded discharge series rarely span more than a few decades. The absence of robust methodologies for generating representative long‐term hydrographs, especially those incorporating coarse temporal resolution or lacking continuous simulations, is therefore a fundamental challenge for climate resilience. We present a novel approach for constructing multi‐century hydrographs that successfully conserve the statistical, especially frequency analysis, and stochastic characteristics of observed hydrographs. This approach integrates a powerful combination of a weather generator with a fine disaggregation technique and a continuous rainfall‐runoff transformation model. We tested our approach to generate a statistically representative 300‐year hydrograph on the Ninnescah River Basin in Kansas, using a satellite precipitation data set to address the considerable gaps in the available hourly observed data sets. This approach emphasizes the similarities of FDCs between the observed and generated hydrographs, exhibiting a reasonably acceptable range of average absolute deviation between 6% and 18%. We extended this methodology to create projected high‐resolution hydrographs based on a range of climate change scenarios. The projected outcomes present pronounced increases in the FDCs compared to the current condition, especially for more distant futures, which necessitates more efficient adaptation strategies. This approach represents a paradigm shift in long‐term hydrologic modeling.

Quantifying suspended sediment loads delivered to Cheney Reservoir, Kansas: Temporal patterns and management implications

Cheney Reservoir, constructed during 1962 to 1965, is the primary water sup- ply for the city of Wichita, the largest city in Kansas. Sediment is an important concern for the reservoir as it degrades water quality and progressively decreases water storage capacity. Long-term data collection provided a unique opportunity to estimate the annual suspended sediment loads for the entire history of the reservoir. To quantify and characterize sediment loading to Cheney Reservoir, discrete suspended sediment samples and continuously mea- sured streamflow data were collected from the North Fork Ninnescah River, the primary inflow to Cheney Reservoir, over a 48-year period. Continuous turbidity data also were collected over a 15-year period. These data were used together to develop simple linear regression models to compute continuous suspended sediment concentrations and loads from 1966 to 2013. The inclusion of turbidity as an additional explanatory variable with streamflow improved regression model diagnostics and increased the amount of variability in suspended sediment concentration explained by 14%. Using suspended sediment concentration from the streamflow-only model, the average annual suspended sediment load was 102,517 t (113,006 tn) and ranged from 4,826 t (5,320 tn) in 1966 to 967,569 t (1,066,562 tn) in 1979. The sed- iment load in 1979 accounted for about 20% of the total load over the 48-year history of the reservoir and 92% of the 1979 sediment load occurred in one 24-hour period during a 1% annual exceedance probability flow event (104-year flood). Nearly 60% of the reservoir sedi- ment load during the 48-year study period occurred in 5 years with extreme flow events (9% to 1% annual exceedance probability, or 11- to 104-year flood events). A substantial portion (41%) of sediment was transported to the reservoir during five storm events spanning only eight 24-hour periods during 1966 to 2013. Annual suspended sediment load estimates based on streamflow were, on average, within ±20% of estimates based on streamflow and turbidity combined. Results demonstrate that large suspended sediment loads are delivered to Cheney Reservoir in very short time periods, indicating that sediment management plans eventually must address large, infrequent inflow events to be effective.

Longitudinal variability in hydraulic geometry and substrate characteristics of a Great Plains sand-bed river

Downstream trends in hydraulic geometry and substrate characteristics were investigated along a 200km reach of the Ninnescah River in south central Kansas, USA. The Ninnescah River is a large sand-bed, perennial, braided river located in the Central Plains physiographic province and is a tributary of the Arkansas River. Hydraulic geometry characteristics were measured at eleven reaches and included slope, sinuosity, bankfull channel width, and bankfull channel depth. Results indicated that the Ninnescah River followed a predicted trend of decreasing slope and increasing depth and width downstream. There were localized divergences in the central tendency, most notability downstream of a substantial tributary that is impounded and at the end of the surveying reach where the Ninnescah River approaches the Arkansas River. Surface grain-size samples were taken from the top 10cm of the bed at five points across the wetted cross-section within each of the 11 reaches. Sediment analyses demonstrated a significant trend in downstream fining of surface grain-sizes (D90 and D50) but unlike previous studies of sand-bedded rivers we observed coarsening of substrates downstream of the major tributary confluence. We propose that the overall low discharge from the tributary was the primary reason for coarsening of the bed downstream of the tributary. Results of this study provide valuable baseline information that can provide insight in to how Great Plains sand-bed systems may be conserved, managed, and restored in the future.

Conservation and citizen participation in the Cheney Lake watershed

K ansas farmers are pulling together to help a city in need—and they're building better farms at the same time. Wichita, the largest city in Kansas, has had taste and odor problems in its water supply for more than 10 years. The city's water source is Cheney Lake, a large reservoir that is fed by the North Fork of the Ninnescah River and a 256,348-ha (633,449-ac) watershed. The watershed encompasses five counties, and the land is 99% agricultural. That's where the farmers come in. A Citizens Management Committee (CMC) made up of watershed farmers and land-owners manages Cheney Lake Watershed Inc., a nonprofit organization. Their goal is to protect the water source for more than 350,000 people. These citizens are actively involved, and their mission is to provide water quality education and funding for cost-effective clean water projects. Members attend meetings with city officials, help manage conservation projects, plan field days and bus tours, and do what they can to better their corner of the environment. “It's a very forward-thinking group,” says Derek Zongker, farmer and CMC member. “I've always been pleased to be associated with this group of people. Everybody wins in the end.” Zongker, who came back to the…

TEMPERATURE-CAUSED FISH KILL IN A FLOWING GREAT PLAINS RIVER

On 9 July 2002, while sampling a flowing segment of the North Fork Ninnescah River 10 km upstream from Cheney Reservoir, Reno County, Kansas, we observed and collected dead and dying specimens of 5 fish species. We attribute the fish kill to high water temperature, which reached 38.0°C on this day.

Preliminary data on rotifers in the interstitial of the Ninnescah river, Kansas, USA

One-hundred five rotifer species were identified from a sandy, plains river in Kansas, USA (the Ninnescah river). Of those rotifers identified, eighty occurred only in the interstitial sand, fifty-six in only the flow as plankton, and thirty-one from both habitats. Most species can be characterized as being more commonly found in littoral habitats, and not the interstitial or plankton. Lecane inermis (Bryce, 1892) had the highest density in the hygropsammon interstitial with an average 401 ind. 10 cm−3 at 1–3 cm depth in September 1993. New records for the US include Encentrum wiszniewski Wulfert (1939), E. longidens Donner (1943) ant E. (Parencentrum) longipes Wulfert (1960). A small form of Lecane levistyla Olofsson (1917) is further examined and discussed.

Notes on the Hyporheic Rotifera of the Ninnescah River, Kansas, USA

Rotifers present in North American lotic interstitial habitats, rarely have been documented in the literature. This type of habitat in the Ninnescah River was examined for rotifers in June, July, September, and November 1993 and January 1994. A 9-cm deep core was taken from the submerged bed of the river and immediately divided into three equal 3 cm subsamples. The resultant aliquots were examined and all rotifers were identified and enumerated. Twenty-four species, comprising 10 genera, were identified. Many rotifers of the Order Bdelloidea were unidentifiable, but three of these were distinguishable to the genera Dissotrocha and Rotaria and one to a probable new variant of Dissotrocha aculeata. The species occurring in greatest numbers were Encentrum velox, Lecane luna, L. papuana, L. inermis, and Lepadella patella, respectively.

Decline in the Diversity of Bivalvia Ninnescah River, Kansas

At least 22 species of bivalve mollusks historically have occurred in the Ninnescah River Basin. Fifteen native unionacean species are extirpated and six exist in low numbers. The exotic species, Corbiculafluminea, is the most abundant and widespread bivalve in the system. Slow climatic changes from cool-moist to warm-dry following the last glacial period and rapid changes in stream regimen initiated by EuroAmerican settlement of the region in the 1880's are proposed as factors in this decline.

Palaemonetes kadiakensis Rathburn in Kansas

Huggins (1980) first reported the glass shrimp (Palaemonetes kadiakensis Rathburn, Crustacea, Decapoda) from Kansas. He and others collected 14 individuals from a small woodland pond in Woodson County near Woodson County State Lake (formerly Lake Fagan). Six of the 14 females were carrying eggs, suggesting a reproducing population. On 11 August 1987 Dan Bleam and Donald Rensner collected four individuals of the glass shrimp from the Ninnescah River, Sedgwick County Sec. 7, T29S, R3W, adjacent to Wichita State University's Biological Field Station (Ninnescah Tract), of which one female was carrying 18 eggs. Eleven of 18 of the eggs hatched and the young were successfully maintained on flake tropical fish food (Tetramin). On 8 September 1987, seven additional glass shrimp were collected at the same locality in shallow backwater pools by students surveying fish populations. None of these individuals were carrying eggs. Although this site has been sampled annually (since 1985), 1987 was the first year the freshwater prawn was collected. This species has been recorded from Oklahoma and Missouri (Pennak, 1978). In Missouri, fisheries biologists have utilized the prawn as a food source for centrarchid pond fishes (bass and bluegill) with success (Neilson and Reynolds, 1975). At the suggestion of Robert Hartmann, Fisheries Research Supervisor, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Leonard Jirak, Fisheries Biologist, KDWP for Woodson and Allen counties, was contacted. Jirak (pers. comm.) informed us that in the early 1970's he collected several hundred freshwater prawns from Pony Express Lake, DeKalb County, Missouri, approximately 25 miles east of St. Joseph, and introduced them into a small rearing pond adjacent to Woodson County State Lake (perhaps the same pond where Huggins collected them) to increase pond fish production. He further suggested that the species may have been inadvertently introduced into the Ninnescah watershed with shipments of fish from Woodson County. Flooding in the South Fork of the Ninnescah River in the spring of 1987 may have washed this prawn over pond spillways into the river where it reproduced and survived in shallow backwaters (depositional zones). Whether the prawn will become established in the sandy plains river is unknown. We thank Leonard Jirak for providing input on the origin and possible means of dispersal of this species in Kansas.

Wichita State University Natural Area

In 1984 the Wichita State University Endowment Association acquired 330 acres south and adjacent to a one-mile stretch of the Ninnescah River in southwestern Sedgwick County. The area is principally located in the SE 1/4 of Sec. 7 and SW 1/4 of Sec. 8, T29S, R3W. At the time of acquisition, much of the Ninnescah Tract (Research Station and Natural History Reservation) was under cultivation to wheat and milo and occasionally alfalfa and oats. In addition to the agricultural land the Ninnescah Tract consists of two original prairie segments of 40 and 28 acres, a 17-acre riparian woodland on the east quarter-section, and an intermittent stream having two tributaries that periodically flow through both prairie segments and the woodland.

Checklist of the Trichoptera of Kansas

Presently, 104 species of Trichoptera (caddisflies) are reported as occurring in Kansas. The distribution of each species according to drainage units is given. A brief description of each drainage unit is included. All collection and identification data were placed on a magnetic tape using the SELGEM computer programs for data manipulation and retrieval. Examination of this data indicated greatest species diversity in southeastern Kansas (Neosho Unit) and least diversity in northwestern Kansas (Republican Unit -Upper). Only one species, Cheumatopsyche lasia, is known from every drainage unit. This publication concludes a distributional study of the Trichoptera of Kansas. Previously published records of Kansas Trichoptera are provided in Schuster and Hamilton (1978) and Hamilton and Schuster (1978, 1979, 1980). These publications also provide a summary of older published records. To date, over 2500 collections have been identified representing 104 species classified in 37 genera and 13 families. All identifications were made to species level except specimens in the limnephilid genus Pycnopsyche and the philopotamid genus Wormaldia. To date, these genera have only been collected as larvae and cannot be reliably identified to species. After identifications were made, collection and determination data for each collection were placed on a magnetic tape using SELGEM computer programs which allowed the data to be manipulated and retrieved in any form desired (such as the following checklist). Examination of this list revealed greatest diversity of species in the Neosho Unit (southeastern Kansas), * In this article, the word unit is used in the sense of a natural drainage basin, rather than its having the connotation of an arbitrary administrative entity. Ed. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.129 on Thu, 30 Jun 2016 05:21:48 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms VOLUME 85, NUMBER 1 11 while the least diversity was in Republican Unit -Upper (northwestern Kansas). Only one species, Cheumatopsyche lasia, is known from every drainage unit. Families, genera and species are arranged in alphabetical order. Each species is followed by a list of the major drainage units where it has been collected. These drainage units represent an attempt to standardize the watersheds of Kansas (Fig. 1). These units were selected since they better reflect the natural topography than do political boundaries. Although most of these units continue into surrounding states, only those portions in Kansas are discussed. A summary of each drainage unit is given below. Factors included consist of stream origin and direction of flow, major tributaries, counties drained (to aid in comparisons with previous checklists), size of each unit (in square kilometers), major physiographic provinces (listed in order of size per unit), stream bed substrates, major impoundments which are frequently collected, topography, and climate. This information was extracted from a report by Kansas Department of Health and Environment (Anon., 1978) and is reported again herein since the above publication is not readily available to most researchers. Arkansas units.--The Arkansas River drainage, originating in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, is divided into two units in Kansas. The Upper Arkansas Unit begins at the Colorado border and continues east to just above the confluence of Walnut Creek (east of Great Bend). The Lower Arkansas Unit continues from this confluence east, then south, to the Oklahoma border. Arkansas Unit--Lower.--This unit encompasses 26,220 square km including portions of 18 counties (Fig. 1). The climate is dry subhumid (average annual precipitation less than 75 cm). The topography consists of a flat to undulating plain with a poorly developed drainage pattern and numerous sand hills. Because of this, most stream beds consist of loose sand and have not been channelized. Five physiographic provinces are represented: Arkansas River Lowlands, High Plains, Smoky Hills, Red Hills, and Wellington Lowlands. The major tributaries (Chikaskia River, Cow Creek, Medicine Lodge River, Ninnescah River, North Fork Ninnescah River, Rattlesnake Creek, Salt Fork Arkansas River, and South Fork Ninnescah River) are dammed at various points; although the only major impoundment is Cheney Reservoir (North Fork Ninnescah River). Arkansas UnitUpper.--This unit encompasses 26,720 square km including portions of 17 counties (Fig. 1). The climate ranges from semiarid (western region) to subhumid (eastern region) (with average annual precipitation ranging from 40 to 60 cm). The topography consists mostly of a flat plain with many sandhills. Most stream beds (which are above the water table) consist of loose sand and are characterized by seasonal flow with isolated pools present the remainder of the year. Two physiographic provThis content downloaded from 207.46.13.129 on Thu, 30 Jun 2016 05:21:48 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 12 TRANSACTIONS OF THE KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE SCHEYENNE RAW1LINS _iECATUR NOR OTON ?W E BI A NEMAHA PH L IP S Ptt IC 7 ASHINTN rRnC

A New Record of the Quillback Carpsucker Carpiodes cyprinus (LeSeuer) from the Kansas River Basin

The quillback carpsucker has been reported from both the Kansas and Arkansas River drainages. The majority of the specimens taken have been from the Arkansas River drainage, specifically the Ninnescah River (Cross, 1967). The most northern record reported from Kansas is Lovewell Reservoir, located in Jewell County, Kansas (Cross, 1967) while one specimen was taken from the Big Blue River (Minckley, 1959). The fish reported in this note were taken from the stilling basin of Milford Reservoir near Junction City and from a sand pit directly south of the dam. This sand pit has since been drained and the area it occupied has been developed into a recreational site. The reservoir itself impounds the Republican River and is in Geary County Kansas. The fish were collected from 31 May through 4 June 1968 through the cooperation of Mr. Lanny Jones and Mr. Bill Cole of the Kansas Forestry Fish and Game Commission during the draining of that basin by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. A total of 22 specimens of C. cyprinus were collected ranging in size from 296 mm to 180 mm in standard length (mean S.L.; 208 mm). Several males were tuberculate and all fish were in good condition. This small number of specimens does not reflect the number present in the stilling basin as wery little time was spent in actual collecting . It appears that C. cyprinus is more common than expected in Kansas River Basin although still not a major part of the fish fauna. All specimens have been placed in the ichthyological collection at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.

Supplementary Supply for Wichita, Kan.

This article discusses Kansas' Cheney Reservoir multipurpose project located on the Ninnescah River, Wichita's second water supply, that was conceived and carried out cooperatively by the city of Wichita and the Bureau of Reclamation. The municipal water supply pool has a volume of 149,500 acre‐ft and is calculated to produce a yield of 35 mgd during a drought period such as that of 1952‐56. Under normal rainfall conditions, the pool can be expected to provide 60 mgd. Major works constructed by the city include the Cheney Reservoir pumping station, pretreatment works and appurtenances, the raw‐water transmission line, and a communication and control cable. For convenience, the pumping facilities and the pretreatment works are discussed separately, although they are housed in the same structure.

A Preliminary Survey of the Mollusca of Kingman County, Kansas

The mollusks are a segment of the fauna of Kansas which has received little attention, although, the earliest studies began in the 80's of the last century. At that time Washburn College, Topeka, established a Biological Survey of Kansas and in 1885 published the first of a series of reports dealing with aquatic and terrestrial mollusks. This series of studies, which terminated after a few years, was d'rected by R. Ellsworth Call (1885). The collections of the Washburn survey included principally the forms of the eastern third of the state. Nothing approaching the Washburn studies has been done since the suspension of Call's work. Ferriss (1907) described a new sub-species of Polygyra multilineata from collections made by Chadwick along the Kaw River near Lawrence. Hanna (1909) published a list of the gastropods of Douglas County. A number of Hanna's species were taken from drift along the Kaw river, and may not be of local origin. Scammon (1906) studied the pelecypods of the state and published the only extensive account of these animals. Scammon's collections, like those of Hanna, are no longer available for study. Hanna and Johnson (1913) reported a list of 26 species of mollusks from Pleistocene deposits of Phillips County. Following Hanna's work in the state, the mollusks were completely neglected for nearly thirty years. Baker (1938) descr-bed two new species of gastropods from Upper Pliocene deposits of Meade County from collections made by Dr. Claude W. Hibbard, Curator of Paleontology, Dyche Museum of Natural History, The University of Kansas. Collections of mollusks made by Dr. Hibbard in Pleistocene deposits in Meade County were reported by Goodrich (1940), and referred to by Hibbard (1940) in a study of the vertebrate fossils of the region. Hibbard (1941) in a paper dealing w'th the vertebrate fossils of the Rexroad member, Ogallala formation, (Upper Pliocene) of Meade County, included a list of 24 species of mollusks collected from this formation in association with the vertebrate remains. Frye, Leonard, and Hibbard (1942) made a study of certain Pleistocene deposits along the Smoky Hill river in Russell County, and reported a list of 51 species of mollusks from this region. Kingman County is a part of a nearly flat plain, and slopes towards the southeast. The altitude ranges from 1,340 ft. above sea level on the southeastern border to 1,840 ft. on the western border. The rise is gradual and constant. The South Fork of the Ninnescah river drains the northern third of the county and the Chickask'a river drains the southern third. The crest known as the Cleveland Ridge forms the divide between these two plains. The soil along these two streams from places where most of the specimens were colIcted is of the Arkansas loamy sand and Arkansas sandy loam types. This soil is found 3-6 feet above the normal water level of the streams. Many