Sustaining Life in the Kansas Prairie: Providing Drought Resistance and Maintaining Civic Growth

McPherson, Kansas, is currently utilizing more water from its main source, the Equus Bed aquifer, than is sustainable long term. This deficit will accelerate depletion of the aquifer as droughts become more intense and longer lasting. Due to its industrial growth over the years, McPherson continues to be a driver of employment in the region, but with this comes an imminent demand for more critical resources. To address this, McPherson’s Board of Public Utilities (BPU) took a proactive approach to ensure water access by promoting conservation and proper management of resources to its residents and industrial customers. BPU also secured water rights south of the city to access groundwater from a more sustainable location of the Equus Bed aquifer. The South Well Field Project (SWF project) provided this sustainable, long-term solution to McPherson for additional population growth, economic expansion, resiliency to drought, and conservation of essential resources.