METHODS FOR VISUALIZING WATER RESOURCE EVOLUTION WITH APPLICATION TO THE HIGH PLAINS AQUIFER IN WESTERN KANSAS

Environmental assets like arable land and water have been developed extensively with consequences such as large-scale groundwater depletion evident in satellite imagery. Agricultural irrigation is supplied by groundwater pumping. Yet even in such a dramatically affected area, many people are still unaware of the consequences of large-scale groundwater depletion. Combining open data sources with modern computer technology will enable the development a visual representation of data that will aid in understanding the impacts of historical, current, and future decisions of pumping. In this project, we explore the landscape that develops as irrigation increases and then is no longer supported after groundwater storage has diminished. A time-evolving participative map showing the decline in water levels in the High Plains aquifer would allow the evolution of this resource to be more visceral to people than has previously been possible. The map will correlate pumping and drought indices with the timing of the conversion of perennial streams to ephemeral using both satellite and field measurements from open databases. Online, interactive aspects will include control of the spatial and temporal display, along with selection of point-specific series plots and data. This work will result in a dynamic interface developed using GIS and other visualization tools that will improve community education and assist in policy making as stakeholders are enabled to clearly envision the relations between data and landscape.