Surface Water

The Pawnee-Buckner subbasin has seven  United States Geological Survey streamflow gage stations.  They include the Rozel gage on Pawnee River, the Burdett gage on Buckner Creek, the Burdett gage on Pawnee River, Jetmore gage above Horsethief on Buckner Creek, Jetmore gage below Horsethief on Buckner Creek, Jetmore gage on Buckner Creek and Hanston gage on Buckner Creek.  The average recorded streamflow was 16.5 cfs at the Burdett gage on Buckner Creek.  The Rozel gage had an average streamflow of 58.3 cfs. Lastly, the Burdett gage on the Pawnee River had an average streamflow of 10.0 cfs.

Baseflow

Prior to the completion of HorseThief Reservoir, staff from the Division of Water Resources' Stafford field office measured 12 sites quarterly. Following the completion of the reservoir, USGS installed four streamflow gages on Buckner Creek in accordance with the construction of the HorseThief Reservoir. As a result, staff no longer measures the Buckner Creek sites. Instead, staff downloads the data from the USGS website for each gage on the measurement dates. 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. These can skew measurements so they do not accurately reflect a steady-state condition. Precipitation is sporadic in both frequency and quantity. The inclusion of those measurements would make it much more difficult to make management decisions involving surface water users.

U.S. Geological Survey installed seven gages in the subbasin.  USGS continues to operate and maintain the gages.  Two are in eastern Hodgeman County, one is in western Pawnee County and four are on Buckner Creek near HorseThief Reservoir.  USGS data from the seven gages is available on the   USGS website. The site also includes historic and real-time data from gaging stations throughout the state.

This map also shows gaining, losing and dry stretches between gaging sites for the periods of January 2010, April 2010, August 2010 and October 2010.  Red indicates a losing stream stretch of stream. Blue is a gaining stream stretch. Brown is a dry stretch. Baseflow at each site is calculated in cubic feet per second. Each site is first evaluated based on the difference in discharge between each gage site. This tells us where gaining and losing stretches are 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. We then figure out how many times during the year a particular stretch of stream was gaining, losing or dry. We compare the frequency of gaining, losing and dry stretches to determine what each stretch of stream is considered to be over the year. If the stretch was losing 50 percent of the time, gaining 25 percent of the time and dry 25 percent of the time, it would be red because most of the year it was a losing stretch.

When a stretch is shown as losing or dry, it does not mean that the stream never flows there.  Baseflow Measurement tables show all discharge measurements from the past year.  The map and tables will be updated annually to show discharge measurements and gaining, losing and dry stretches.   

During 2010, the staff measured the subbasin four times.  The subbasin had five stretches dry.  One stretch was gaining and two stretches were losing.  The stretch between Buckner Creek 4 and Buckner Creek 5 had two measurements showing a loss and two dry.  Staff labeled it as an undetermined stretch.  Note: Staff made no determination between Buckner Creek 1 and Buckner Creek 2 sites due to HorseThief Reservoir.