Surface Water
The Upper Solomon subbasin has three 
United States Geological Survey streamflow gages. The Upper North Fork has a gage at Glade. It has been in operation since October 1, 1952. The Stockton gage is on Bow Creek. Bow Creek is a tributary to the North Fork Solomon River. It has been in service since November 20, 1950. The third gage is above Webster Reservoir on the Upper South Fork. It has been in operation the longest, beginning January 8, 1945.
Surface water in the Lower Fork is monitored by two United States Geological Survey gages. They are located at Portis and Osborne. The Portis gage is on the Lower North Fork. The Osborne gage is on the Lower South Fork. Portis has a longer period of record dating back to 1945. Osborne gage began shortly after Portis in 1946. Since both gages are downstream from reservoirs, the operations of Kirwin and Webster Reservoirs affect the streamflow.
The Mainstem subbasin has three streamflow gages monitored by the United States Geological Survey. One is below Glen Elder Reservoir. Another is downstream at Niles. The final gage is on Salt Creek at Ada. The streamflow gage at Niles is the only gage with Minimum Desirable Streamflow associated with it.
Upper Solomon
The average streamflow for Glade was 25.05 cfs. It was 12.68 cfs at Stockton. Webster was 49.02 cfs.
Lower Solomon
The average streamflow was 115.3 cfs at Portis. It was 104.6 cfs at Osborne.
Mainstem Solomon
The average streamflow at Niles was 539.13 cfs, at Ada was 64.26 cfs and at Glen Elder 218.87 cfs.
In 1984, the Kansas Legislature amended the Kansas Water Appropriation Act. It established Minimum Desirable Streamflow for specific United States Geological Survey streamflow gages. Administration of Minimum Desirable Streamflow begins after seven straight days of streamflow below the defined value. It continues until the streamflow meets Minimum Desirable Streamflow for 14 straight days. The table shows Minimum Desirable Streamflow by month for the Niles streamflow gage on the Solomon River.
|
Gage |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
June |
July |
Aug |
Sept |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
|
Niles |
40 |
50 |
60 |
60 |
90 |
90 |
50 |
50 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
Baseflow
Division of Water Resources’ Stockton Field office staff measures 30 sites in the Upper and Lower subbasins. There are 15 sites in the upper and 15 sites in the Lower. They are measured monthly. The objective is to record baseflow. Baseflow is the amount of natural flow in the stream under static conditions. Precipitation events can greatly influence streamflow. They can skew measurements and result in an inaccurate reflection of steady-state conditions.
There are two U.S. Geological Survey gages installed on the Upper Solomon Subbasin. USGS also has three gages on the Lower Solomon Subbasin. Of the Upper Solomon gages, one is in western Rooks County on the upper South Fork above Webster Reservoir. The other one is in south central Phillips County above Kirwin Reservoir. The Lower Solomon gages are found at the town of Portis on the lower North Fork and the two on the lower South Fork are found at the towns of Woodston and Osborne. USGS data from the all these gages can be viewed on the USGS website. The site also includes historic and real-time data from streamflow gage stations throughout the state.
The maps also show gaining, losing and dry stretches between gage sites for the period from March 2008 through December 2008. Blue stream segments represent a gaining stretch. Brown is a dry stretch. Baseflow at each site is calculated in cubic feet per second. Each stream stretch is first evaluated based on the difference in discharge between each gage site. This serves as a simple indicator as to which stream segments are gaining and losing stretches during a specific month. When two consecutive sites have no flow, it is considered a dry stretch because there are no discharge numbers to compare. Staff calculates the frequency of gaining, losing and dry stretches for the year's measurements. This determines whether each stretch is considered to be gaining, losing or dry for the year. If the stretch was gaining 50 percent of the time, losing 25 percent of the time and dry 25 percent of the time, it would be shown as blue on the map because during the course of the year it was most frequently a gaining stretch.
When a stretch is shown as losing or dry, it does not imply that the stream never flows at the measurement site locale. The tables for the Upper Solomon and Lower Solomon show discharge measurements from the past year. The map and tables will be updated annually to show discharge measurements and gaining, losing and dry stretches.
When looking at the tables, keep in mind some sites may not have been measured during the cold winter months due to ice. When ice prevented measurements, it was denoted as "NA" and was not considered a dry, gaining or losing stretch.
The data for the upper Solomon shows that May is when baseflow was present at most sites on the upper North Fork. It indicated all stretches to be gaining through the end of 2008. The Upper South Fork had shown flow at the most number of sites in June. All but one stretch was gaining. At which time the stream segment between measurement sites South Fork 2 and South Fork 3 had exhibited a losing trend. Site South Fork 3 was documented as dry during each time measurements were taken in 2008.
The tables for the lower Solomon show that the stretch of river just upstream of the Woodston gage displayed a losing trend in April and September. However, most of the time all nine stretches on the Lower South Fork exhibited a gaining trend in 2008. All six stretches on the lower North Fork displayed a gaining trend in 2008. There were only a few losing stretches throughout the year.
Monthly measurements began on the Upper Solomon sites in August 2001. The Lower Solomon data collection efforts began in December 2006. When comparing 2008 data trends to historical data trends, the upper South Fork and lower North Fork did not differ. Historically, the trend on the lower South Fork indicates the two most upstream stretches are most often dry stream segments. A year-by-year account of the stretches on the upper North Fork indicates that the second uppermost stretch is most frequently observed as losing. The stretch immediately upstream of the USGS gage at Glade is most often recorded as dry.
Compared with recent years, the above normal precipitation in 2008 benefited the basin. More than likely the alluvium recharged enough to add to baseflow.
**Note that the data tables start in the month of March as man-power constraints and weather conditions did not allow for measurements in the months of January and February. Also, during the months of June and October measurements were hindered by precipitation events on the lower Solomon. October measurements were not taken on the upper South Fork as the timing and frequency of precipitation events only allowed for measurements on the upper North Fork for that month.