Kellan R. Strauch Virginia L. McGuire 2022 <p>The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.8 million acres (about 175,000 square miles) in parts of eight States—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Water-level declines began in parts of the High Plains aquifer soon after the beginning of substantial groundwater irrigation (about 1950). This report presents water-level changes and change in recoverable water in storage in the High Plains aquifer from predevelopment (about 1950) to 2017 and from 2015 to 2017.</p><p>Water-level changes from predevelopment to 2017, by well, ranged from a rise of 84 feet to a decline of 262 feet; the range for 99 percent of the wells was from a rise of 39 feet to a decline of 200 feet. Water-level changes from 2015 to 2017, by well, ranged from a rise of 41 feet to a decline of 21 feet; the range for 99 percent of the wells was from a rise of 14 feet to a decline of 10 feet. The area-weighted, average water-level changes in the aquifer were an overall decline of 16.8 feet from predevelopment to 2017 and a rise of 0.1 foot from 2015 to 2017. Total recoverable water in storage in the aquifer in 2017 was about 2.91 billion acre-feet, which was a decline of about 291.8 million acre-feet since predevelopment and a rise of 0.1 million acre-feet from 2015 to 2017.</p> application/pdf 10.3133/sir20225080 en U.S. Geological Survey Water-level and recoverable water in storage changes, High Plains aquifer, predevelopment to 2017 and 2015–17 reports