Southwest District Office

The Southwest District Office (SWDO) serves a 25 county area encompassing 20,160 miles with a 2000 Census population of 185,663. This area is commonly referred to as the high plains. Limited surface water resources are present; however, groundwater resources (Ogallala aquifer) have historically been abundant and are relied upon exclusively for drinking water. SWD covers significant portions of 3 major river basins; Upper Arkansas, Lower Arkansas, and Cimarron. Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies are currently being developed in two of the three basins. This district is semiarid and largely agricultural in makeup with the notable exception of oil and gas production. Approximately 2/3 of the fed cattle and ½ of the hogs marketed along with ½ of the milk produced within Kansas originates from SWD. Over half of the state's regulated large feedlots (>1000 hd.) are sited within this region along with four of the state's five major packing plants. The majority of the counties (16) in the district operate municipal solid waste landfills and most small cities operate wastewater treatment systems that function without discharge to receiving streams. The SWDO is staffed with 11 environmental and administrative staff.

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