Multivariate spatio-temporal visualization of over-pumping the High Plains aquifer and impacts on the Arkansas River in western Kansas

Abstract

Environmental assets like arable land and water have been developed extensively with consequences such as large-scale groundwater depletion caused by agricultural irrigation. Yet even in such a dramatically affected area, many people are still unaware of the consequences of large-scale groundwater pumping. Combining open data with modern computer technology enables a visual representation of data that will aid to understand the impacts of historical, current, and future decisions of pumping. In this project, we explore the landscape that develops as irrigation increases and then is no longer supported after groundwater storage has diminished. A time-evolving participative map showing the decline in water levels in the High Plains aquifer makes this evolution more visceral to people than has previously been possible. The map will correlate pumping and drought indices with new metrics of when perennial streams convert to ephemeral using field measurements from open databases. Online, interactive aspects include control of the spatial and temporal display, along with selection of point-specific series plots and data. The dynamic interface developed using GIS, JavaScript APIs, and other visualization tools improves community education and assists in policy making as stakeholders are enabled to clearly envision the relations between management decisions and landscape changes.