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Webster Dam
Picture of Webster Dam, Kansas

Statistics

General

  • Region (Map) : .................. Great Plains
  • State (Map) ........................ Kansas
  • County ................................ Rooks
  • Project: ................................ PSMBP-Webster
  • Dam type: ........................... Earthfill
  • Location: ............................ 8 mi W of Stockton
  • Watercourse: ..................... SF of Solomon River
  • Reservoir: ........................... Webster
  • Construction Date: ........... 1953-1956
  • National ID Number ......... KS00025
  • Hydrologic Unit Code .....

Dimensions

Hydraulics

  • Normal Water Surface Elev: ..............1892.45 ft
  • Hydraulic Height: .................................. 86.70 ft
  • Service Spillway Type:
  •    Uncontrolled  Crest    ................................. No
  •    Morning-Glory ............................................ No
  •    Crest Length    ............................................ NA
  •    Gated      ....................................................... No
  •    Capacity at Elev:  1938.0  ft,          138,000 cfs
  • Auxiliary Spillway .......................................... No
  •     Capacity at Elev.   .................................. 0  cfs
  • Outlet Works Capacity at
  •     Elevation  1889.6 ft.,  .......................... 380 cfs

Hydrology

Flood Type: ............................ Summer General

  • Storm Duration: ........................................ 72 hrs
  • Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) Report:
  •   Peak Inflow: ....................................307,000 cfs
  •   Inflow Volume: .........................791,150 acre-ft
  •   Flow Duration: .....................................15 days
  •   PMF Routing MWS Elev.: ........................ NA
  •   Initial Routing Elev: ..........................1892.45 ft
  •   Study Date .................................: January 1988

Power Generation

Narration

 

Geology

 The Webster Dam and Reservoir is located within the High Plains Province of Kansas.  The geologic conditions involved are relatively simple, as all subsurface beds are nearly horizontal.  No major faults or faulting is known in the area.  Some movement has occurred within the Niobrara and Carlisle formations, with joints and small faults being the existing evidence.  Moisture moving along the faults created planes of weakness where sliding could occur.  All deposits are of a sedimentary, no igneous or metamorphic rocks are exposed or close to the surface in the Webster area.  Unconsolidated Pleistocene deposits mantle the older consolidated sediments except for a few erosional hills and bluffs formed by the more resistant Fort Hays limestone.  The deposits involved in the construction of Webster Dam ranged in age from Cretaceous (Carlisle shale) to Recent (river Alluvium).  Tertiary deposits are not found at the damsite but do occur adjacent to the upper reaches of the reservoir.  The Carlisle shale is the bedrock underlying the river alluvium; the Fort Hays or Smoky Hill members of the Niobrara formation underlie the uplands.  The Carlisle shale is a marine of upper Cretaceous age and Gulfian Series and has an average thickness of 300 feet.  The Niobrara formation, Upper Cretaceous age, conformable overlays the Carlisle shale.  It is composed of two easily distinguished members.  The Fort Hays, the lower member, is composed of several massive chalky limestone beds separated by thin shale or bentonite layers.

Links

 | Recreation | NA

 | Dams Located by State | USBR Kansas Dams | South Great Plains Region Dams |

 | Owner:  Bureau of Reclamation, Nebraska-Kansas Area Office,
                   PO Box 1607, Grand Island, NE 68802-1607, (308) 389-4622

 | Operator:  Bureau of Reclamation, Nebraska-Kansas Area Office,
                       PO Box 1607, Grand Island, NE 68802-1607, (308) 389-4622

 
 

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