# Southwest Kansas GMD 3 — water use, 15,740 points

> How much water Southwest Kansas GMD 3 reported using, year by year since 1990. 1,532,075 acre-feet in 2023.

## Southwest Kansas GMD 3

**15,740** points — 26.4% of the file — reporting **1,532,075** acre-feet in 2023.

### What this district is

the largest irrigated district in the state, and the one where the Ogallala has fallen furthest.

### What the series actually shows — Southwest Kansas GMD 3

Reported use here peaked in **1991** at 2,756,166 acre-feet
and bottomed in **2019** at 1,476,286. That swing is rainfall,
not policy: a wet year needs less pumping than a dry one, and any two years
picked from this table can be made to say almost anything.

Comparing decades instead: the last ten years average
**1,676,212** acre-feet a year against **2,242,460**
in the first ten — lower. And the number of points reporting any use
moved from **8,950** to **7,843**: the count
of straws in the ground barely changes, whatever the year does to the
volume.

*Reported use in Southwest Kansas GMD 3, year by year. « Points reporting » counts those returning more than nought — a 0 is not a finding, see below.*

| Year | Acre-feet | Acres irrigated | Points reporting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 2,653,897 | 1,578,402 | 8,950 |
| 1991 | 2,756,166 | 1,593,885 | 9,101 |
| 1992 | 2,280,783 | 1,580,596 | 8,912 |
| 1993 | 1,980,774 | 1,563,208 | 8,883 |
| 1994 | 2,371,236 | 1,570,247 | 8,991 |
| 1995 | 2,259,964 | 1,557,011 | 8,786 |
| 1996 | 2,116,947 | 1,560,004 | 8,764 |
| 1997 | 2,010,561 | 1,595,536 | 8,971 |
| 1998 | 2,084,786 | 1,617,977 | 8,996 |
| 1999 | 1,909,489 | 1,621,356 | 9,047 |
| 2000 | 2,306,866 | 1,596,648 | 8,983 |
| 2001 | 2,031,639 | 1,564,507 | 8,999 |
| 2002 | 2,456,555 | 1,612,824 | 9,042 |
| 2003 | 2,022,731 | 1,524,670 | 8,988 |
| 2004 | 1,800,005 | 1,540,184 | 8,937 |
| 2005 | 1,647,474 | 1,501,450 | 8,777 |
| 2006 | 1,984,498 | 1,490,730 | 8,750 |
| 2007 | 1,835,529 | 1,485,656 | 8,674 |
| 2008 | 2,059,078 | 1,494,949 | 8,737 |
| 2009 | 1,858,512 | 1,484,786 | 8,672 |
| 2010 | 1,964,074 | 1,468,662 | 8,589 |
| 2011 | 2,413,924 | 1,468,007 | 8,579 |
| 2012 | 2,167,848 | 1,430,030 | 8,475 |
| 2013 | 1,985,882 | 1,463,684 | 8,419 |
| 2014 | 1,935,861 | 1,433,799 | 8,345 |
| 2015 | 1,627,001 | 1,433,822 | 8,273 |
| 2016 | 1,636,486 | 1,422,825 | 8,194 |
| 2017 | 1,510,793 | 1,425,948 | 8,114 |
| 2018 | 1,599,623 | 1,356,101 | 8,118 |
| 2019 | 1,476,286 | 1,415,299 | 7,985 |
| 2020 | 1,761,696 | 1,370,432 | 8,007 |
| 2021 | 1,692,845 | 1,416,002 | 7,947 |
| 2022 | 1,989,455 | 1,349,808 | 7,993 |
| 2023 | 1,532,075 | 1,511,032 | 7,843 |

### Which counties

| County | Points | Share |
|---|---|---|
| [Finney](/county/finney.md) | 2,837 | 18.0% |
| [Gray](/county/gray.md) | 2,214 | 14.1% |
| [Haskell](/county/haskell.md) | 1,667 | 10.6% |
| [Ford](/county/ford.md) | 1,506 | 9.6% |
| [Kearny](/county/kearny.md) | 1,354 | 8.6% |
| [Stevens](/county/stevens.md) | 1,256 | 8.0% |
| [Grant](/county/grant.md) | 1,103 | 7.0% |
| [Stanton](/county/stanton.md) | 1,064 | 6.8% |
| [Seward](/county/seward.md) | 1,005 | 6.4% |
| [Meade](/county/meade.md) | 945 | 6.0% |
| [Morton](/county/morton.md) | 601 | 3.8% |
| [Hamilton](/county/hamilton.md) | 188 | 1.2% |

### ⚠️ What a zero here does not mean

**7,897** of the 15,740 points in Southwest Kansas GMD 3 report 0
acre-feet for 2023, and **10,758** show five or more successive
years at 0 in this file.

A 0 in this file is not a finding. There are no blanks in the usage columns — every point carries a number for every year — so a nil return, a point that did not yet exist, and a report never filed all read the same. Kansas fines non-filing (USD 250 per file, USD 1,000 and suspension after 1 June), which is exactly why a missing report looks like a quiet year.

Kansas does terminate a water right after five successive years without beneficial use — K.S.A. 82a-718 — but only *without due and sufficient cause*, and only after a hearing before the chief engineer with 30 days’ notice. Four causes are recognised in K.A.R. 5-7-1, including adequate rainfall and water being unavailable at the source, and enrolment in the water rights conservation programme counts as one. A run of zeros here is a reason to check, never a conclusion.

### Buying or defending irrigated ground in Southwest Kansas GMD 3?

15,740 points of diversion sit in Southwest Kansas GMD 3, reporting 1,532,075 acre-feet in 2023. What a right is actually worth turns on how much it has been used and on whether it can be defended — questions this site cannot answer for a particular file. Tell us where and we pass the request to Kansas water lawyers and consultants.

We recommend nobody and we are nobody's agent. We have no arrangement with any firm today — we are collecting these requests in order to go and find them. [What we do with this](/privacy.md).

### The largest points

*Southwest Kansas GMD 3, ordered by reported use in 2023. The last column counts the longest run of years at 0 in this file — a fact about the file, not a finding about the right.*

| Point | County | Source | 2023 (AF) | 10-yr avg | Acres 2023 | Longest run of 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [41268](/search.md) | Kearny | surface | 10,571 | 11,133 | 6,000 | 2 |
| [41837](/search.md) | Kearny | surface | 10,551 | 14,307 | 6,576 | 4 |
| [5690](/search.md) | Kearny | surface | 7,915 | 5,949 | 9,999 | 2 |
| [19614](/search.md) | Kearny | surface | 2,795 | 4,847 | 8,750 | 2 |
| [36450](/search.md) | Ford | ground | 1,449 | 1,448 | 0 | 1 |
| [68297](/search.md) | Finney | ground | 1,339 | 862 | 0 | 14 |
| [68226](/search.md) | Finney | ground | 1,144 | 1,162 | 0 | 14 |
| [85661](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 1,038 | 573 | 747 | 26 |
| [1150](/search.md) | Ford | ground | 930 | 527 | 0 | 0 |
| [51829](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 908 | 963 | 625 | 5 |
| [85900](/search.md) | Finney | ground | 883 | 458 | 0 | 27 |
| [69711](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 882 | 876 | 480 | 20 |
| [74324](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 876 | 663 | 480 | 17 |
| [60342](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 873 | 751 | 480 | 7 |
| [39849](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 870 | 761 | 980 | 0 |
| [78050](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 866 | 861 | 488 | 20 |
| [63269](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 861 | 620 | 545 | 9 |
| [30927](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 859 | 706 | 504 | 0 |
| [63345](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 841 | 646 | 676 | 9 |
| [83563](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 814 | 777 | 407 | 24 |
| [25851](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 802 | 830 | 0 | 0 |
| [26000](/search.md) | Meade | ground | 792 | 684 | 500 | 2 |
| [33292](/search.md) | Finney | ground | 791 | 230 | 316 | 0 |
| [76576](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 786 | 575 | 495 | 19 |
| [28161](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 775 | 771 | 530 | 0 |
| [66386](/search.md) | Meade | ground | 774 | 631 | 420 | 11 |
| [86891](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 771 | 475 | 518 | 28 |
| [75270](/search.md) | Ford | ground | 765 | 555 | 0 | 21 |
| [85295](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 760 | 553 | 0 | 26 |
| [14082](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 760 | 666 | 360 | 1 |
| [22117](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 755 | 730 | 520 | 0 |
| [9142](/search.md) | Grant | ground | 747 | 631 | 524 | 0 |
| [43136](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 747 | 311 | 480 | 1 |
| [52420](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 740 | 609 | 720 | 0 |
| [81059](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 738 | 470 | 330 | 23 |
| [88181](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 736 | 291 | 575 | 30 |
| [80117](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 736 | 616 | 473 | 22 |
| [64697](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 729 | 641 | 480 | 10 |
| [48695](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 726 | 553 | 450 | 0 |
| [82203](/search.md) | Meade | ground | 726 | 637 | 410 | 23 |
| [4798](/search.md) | Finney | ground | 721 | 787 | 488 | 1 |
| [35106](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 721 | 681 | 500 | 6 |
| [36419](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 721 | 692 | 470 | 0 |
| [82024](/search.md) | Meade | ground | 719 | 592 | 246 | 23 |
| [67924](/search.md) | Meade | ground | 717 | 336 | 486 | 28 |
| [9384](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 715 | 753 | 448 | 0 |
| [62098](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 712 | 584 | 488 | 9 |
| [23011](/search.md) | Morton | ground | 708 | 552 | 485 | 0 |
| [5582](/search.md) | Kearny | ground | 703 | 762 | 535 | 5 |
| [87403](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 698 | 333 | 640 | 29 |
| [29258](/search.md) | Meade | ground | 696 | 608 | 640 | 0 |
| [66116](/search.md) | Meade | ground | 695 | 644 | 366 | 11 |
| [49042](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 694 | 599 | 375 | 1 |
| [89743](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 693 | 113 | 640 | 32 |
| [62112](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 691 | 743 | 512 | 9 |
| [38440](/search.md) | Meade | ground | 683 | 641 | 420 | 0 |
| [86782](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 683 | 401 | 455 | 28 |
| [51843](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 679 | 602 | 480 | 1 |
| [83872](/search.md) | Grant | ground | 676 | 666 | 450 | 25 |
| [68705](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 674 | 876 | 500 | 13 |
| [40254](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 667 | 661 | 900 | 0 |
| [60598](/search.md) | Meade | ground | 664 | 615 | 364 | 9 |
| [61057](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 664 | 564 | 375 | 8 |
| [60986](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 663 | 618 | 488 | 8 |
| [78642](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 659 | 577 | 480 | 21 |
| [54629](/search.md) | Meade | ground | 656 | 125 | 0 | 0 |
| [49440](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 655 | 634 | 528 | 0 |
| [61973](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 655 | 618 | 375 | 8 |
| [9408](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 654 | 258 | 240 | 10 |
| [68225](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 654 | 513 | 875 | 13 |
| [36717](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 653 | 690 | 400 | 0 |
| [88492](/search.md) | Hamilton | ground | 652 | 218 | 409 | 30 |
| [9966](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 647 | 693 | 480 | 1 |
| [18852](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 647 | 558 | 625 | 0 |
| [86117](/search.md) | Meade | ground | 645 | 400 | 320 | 27 |
| [31388](/search.md) | Finney | ground | 645 | 837 | 411 | 1 |
| [23126](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 641 | 569 | 363 | 0 |
| [85290](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 641 | 500 | 495 | 26 |
| [61527](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 640 | 531 | 390 | 7 |
| [25083](/search.md) | Grant | ground | 639 | 510 | 260 | 1 |
| [47961](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 637 | 593 | 598 | 5 |
| [89335](/search.md) | Hamilton | ground | 637 | 121 | 210 | 32 |
| [31425](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 636 | 494 | 330 | 0 |
| [86717](/search.md) | Meade | ground | 635 | 374 | 372 | 28 |
| [13520](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 633 | 390 | 245 | 0 |
| [49612](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 632 | 528 | 360 | 8 |
| [9869](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 630 | 542 | 450 | 1 |
| [14594](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 623 | 542 | 610 | 0 |
| [36894](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 623 | 797 | 494 | 0 |
| [60615](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 622 | 522 | 367 | 7 |
| [75271](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 622 | 587 | 488 | 18 |
| [86661](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 622 | 320 | 367 | 28 |
| [12836](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 621 | 781 | 452 | 1 |
| [27419](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 620 | 528 | 360 | 0 |
| [89586](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 616 | 122 | 330 | 32 |
| [13780](/search.md) | Meade | ground | 613 | 577 | 375 | 0 |
| [82173](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 613 | 478 | 320 | 23 |
| [45908](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 612 | 599 | 400 | 1 |
| [29584](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 612 | 566 | 362 | 0 |
| [89108](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 612 | 175 | 377 | 31 |
| [81060](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 610 | 542 | 330 | 23 |
| [83119](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 610 | 611 | 544 | 24 |
| [1770](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 606 | 599 | 370 | 0 |
| [53123](/search.md) | Grant | ground | 606 | 581 | 366 | 0 |
| [55035](/search.md) | Haskell | ground | 606 | 608 | 640 | 0 |
| [4582](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 605 | 560 | 475 | 8 |
| [25529](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 604 | 674 | 366 | 7 |
| [40994](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 602 | 468 | 320 | 0 |
| [13613](/search.md) | Ford | ground | 601 | 268 | 0 | 11 |
| [23560](/search.md) | Grant | ground | 600 | 459 | 375 | 0 |
| [75820](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 600 | 518 | 488 | 18 |
| [60945](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 599 | 637 | 490 | 8 |
| [3187](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 597 | 520 | 360 | 4 |
| [19938](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 597 | 526 | 260 | 0 |
| [63063](/search.md) | Seward | ground | 597 | 514 | 384 | 11 |
| [69651](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 597 | 577 | 369 | 14 |
| [78049](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 597 | 476 | 599 | 20 |
| [8733](/search.md) | Stevens | ground | 596 | 577 | 345 | 3 |
| [78008](/search.md) | Grant | ground | 596 | 369 | 320 | 20 |
| [33703](/search.md) | Stanton | ground | 595 | 696 | 480 | 1 |

### The other districts

- [Outside any district](/district/outside-any-district.md) 25,058
- [Big Bend GMD 5](/district/big-bend-gmd-5.md) 6,850
- [Northwest Kansas GMD 4](/district/northwest-kansas-gmd-4.md) 4,377
- [Equus Beds GMD 2](/district/equus-beds-gmd-2.md) 4,186
- [Western Kansas GMD 1](/district/western-kansas-gmd-1.md) 3,404

---

Página: https://ks-water-use.pages.dev/district/southwest-kansas-gmd-3/
Fonte: Kansas water use — Kansas Geological Survey, from the annual reports collected by the Division of Water Resources
Recolha: 2026-08-22