Youngmeyer Ranch (KS) Continuous Discharge at Watershed Outlet Data (AIMS_GP_YMR_approach1_DISC)

Youngmeyer Ranch is located in Elk County, KS (outlet location: 37.56442, -96.49106) and managed by Witchita State University and owned by the Youngmeyer Trust. The ranch is roughly 1902 ha of grassland prairie used predominantly for cattle grazing and is burned every 1-2 years. A tributary of the Elk River, specifically the south branch of the Elk River headwaters, elevation at Youngmeyer ranges from 373-488 m with mean annual temperature of 13.7°C and mean annual precipitation of 979mm. This site is geologically constructed of Permian age limestone and shale with layers of chert below silty clay loam soils (Houseman et al. 2016). This site is predominantly grassland composed of the same dominant grasses as Konza Prairie, with scattered black oaks (Q. veluntina) along the creeks (Houseman et al. 2016) Between July 18th, 2021 and December 13th, 2024, we monitored surface water level at the outlet (ENM01) of the AIMS Youngmeyer Ranch watershed at 10 minute intervals using a vented pressure transducer (Seametrics PT12 vented pressure/temperature sensor). Over the study period, we collected field measurements of discharge (in liters per second) during maintenance visits every three weeks at the watershed outlet. We then used these field discharge estimates with corresponding water level measurements from the continuous record to generate a discharge-stage rating curve and estimate continuous discharge.