Kellan R. Strauch Virginia L. McGuire 2024 <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 2019 and from 2017 to 2019.</p><p>Water-level changes from predevelopment to 2019, by well, ranged from a rise of 86 feet to a decline of 265 feet; the range for 99 percent of the wells was from a rise of 42 feet to a decline of 203 feet. Water-level changes from 2017 to 2019, by well, ranged from a rise of 34 feet to a decline of 27 feet; the range for 99 percent of the wells was from a rise of 11 feet to a decline of 11 feet. The area-weighted, average water-level changes in the aquifer were an overall decline of 16.5 feet from predevelopment to 2019 and a rise of 0.1 foot from 2017 to 2019. Recoverable water in storage in the aquifer in 2019 was about 2.91 billion acre-feet, which was a decline of about 286.4 million acre-feet since predevelopment and a rise of 1.6 million acre-feet from 2017 to 2019.</p> application/pdf 10.3133/sir20235143 en U.S. Geological Survey Water-level and recoverable water in storage changes, High Plains Aquifer, predevelopment to 2019 and 2017 to 2019 reports