TOPEKA —Beginning in late May and continuing for much of June, residents of northwest Kansas may see a low-flying helicopter towing a large hexagonal frame, part of a Kansas Geological Survey and Northwest Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 4 project to map groundwater conditions in the Ogallala aquifer in that part of the state, according to the KGS.
Scientific equipment designed to map geologic structures and groundwater resources below the land surface will hang underneath the helicopter 100 to 200 feet above ground.
The helicopter will be flown by pilots who are specially trained for low-level flying and have a great deal of experience with airborne electromagnetic surveys.
Flights will not occur over residential areas and other buildings, livestock feeding operations, or wind turbines.
The Ogallala aquifer is the major water resource for agricultural, industrial, and municipal use in GMD4. Intensive pumping of the aquifer over the last 60+ years has resulted in large groundwater level declines in Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan, and Cheyenne counties. The information obtained in these flights will allow GMD4 and the Kansas Geological Survey to better assess the nature and continuity of water-yielding materials in the aquifer. The ultimate objective of the project is to obtain information that will assist GMD4 in developing strategies for charting more sustainable paths for the Ogallala aquifer in the district.
Aqua Geo Frameworks LLC of Fort Laramie, Wyoming, our partners in this work, have performed more than 20,000 miles of similar surveys in Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming, but this will be the first of its kind in Kansas.