Wichita ? Groundwater levels in central and western Kansas dropped again last year amid the ongoing drought, but fell at a slower pace as dry conditions eased in some parts of the state, the Kansas Geological Survey said Monday.

Water levels were down an average of about 1.2 feet from January 2003 to January 2004, according to the agency’s preliminary analysis of its annual groundwater survey. That is less than the previous year’s drop of nearly 2 feet, but still more than average declines of the mid- to late 1990s, the survey said.

“We are definitely seeing a continuation of drought and the effects of that. There is no question of that,” said Brownie Wilson, a water scientist with the survey.

The decline of groundwater levels varied across Kansas:

• In west-central Kansas, levels fell an average of 1 foot from 2003 to 2004. That compares with a decline of 1.44 feet the previous year.
• In northwestern Kansas, the decline was just under 1 foot, compared with slightly less than 1.5 feet last year.
• In southwestern Kansas, the average decline was just under 2 feet. The previous year’s decline was 3.36 feet.

Heavy rainfalls this summer in some counties affected overall averages, said Rex Buchanan, associate director of the geological survey.

Wells measured in Grant County in southwestern Kansas, for example, fell 1.31 feet this year. A year ago, water levels in the same wells dropped 5.06 feet. Stevens County likewise showed a decline of less than 1 foot, compared with 4.69 feet a year ago.

But in counties that didn’t get such localized rains, groundwater levels again plunged as farmers pumped heavily to water their crops.

Measurements taken last month in Finney County found the county lost an average 4.29 feet in groundwater levels during the past year, on top of the 4.59 feet lost the previous year, Wilson said. The decline also was bad in Haskell County, where levels fell 3.09 feet on top of a 3.59 feet decline the year before.

“That is pretty big; those are the two biggest ones in the state,” Wilson said.

Depletion of groundwater in the Ogallala Aquifer has been a concern in Kansas and neighboring states for years; far more water is pumped out of it for irrigation and other uses than can be naturally replenished.

“It’s not our job to make policy, but I would say policymaking should not be dramatically affected one way or another based on one year’s results,” Buchanan said. “Policies that are good are good for the long term. I think it is fair to say this doesn’t represent the issue going away in any shape or form.”