GroMoPo Metadata for KGS Equus Beds (GMD2) Model

Equus Beds Groundwater Management District No. 2 (GMD2) was formally established in 1975 and was the second of five such local management districts in Kansas authorized under the Groundwater Management District Act of 1972. GMD2 overlies the Equus Beds aquifer, a groundwater system in south-central Kansas that represents the easternmost portion of the much larger High Plains aquifer (HPA), which in turn covers parts of South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Like much of the HPA, irrigation is the dominant water use, although the Equus Beds aquifer is also a primary water source for large municipal allocations, such as for the cities of Wichita and Hutchinson, along with other significant industrial uses. The management goal of GMD2 is to balance groundwater withdrawals with annual recharge to prevent unsustainable groundwater mining while also protecting from and remediating groundwater contamination