western Kansas

The Wizard of Oz and Kansas have been inseparable since farm girl Dorothy Gale first skipped down the yellow brick road. But having an enduring image from the Dust Bowl 1930s might also hold Kansas back from what it wants to be today.

Water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer continue to plummet as farm irrigation swallows an average of more than 2 billion gallons of groundwater per day statewide. But after decades of mostly inaction from Kansas leaders, the state’s approach to water conservation might finally be starting to shift.

As small town populations decline, people in places like western Kansas look for ways to keep their rural farming and ranching lifestyle alive for the next generation. Some families think youth rodeo might be part of the answer.

Thomas County, Kansas, has a donation clause in its diversion agreements, leading to concerns about access to justice for low-income Kansans

Record-setting lack of rain in 2022 transformed parts of western Kansas into a temporary desert. And it'll take a while for the region's fields, towns and mindsets to recover.

A new study from Kansas State University researchers is the first to measure how a changing climate is hurting wheat production in the Great Plains. And it points to a future with more extreme heat, drought and wind.

After decades of irrigation, the aquifer that makes life possible in dry western Kansas is reaching a critical point. Several counties have already lost more than half of their underground water. But a new plan could save more of what’s left.

It’s been one year since drought-fueled wildfires tore across western and central Kansas. For the ranchers who lost so much, the rebuilding process is far from over.

The latest lawsuit points to a dramatic rise in the Latino population in Dodge City over the past 20 years. No Latino candidate has been elected to the city commission this century.

For the first time, the state board voted Wednesday to say that Kansas shouldn’t pump the Ogallala aquifer dry to support crop irrigation. The underground water source has seen dramatic declines in recent decades.