Hutchinson ? The lack of rainfall in Kansas in 2011 led to intense declines in groundwater levels around the state, according to the Kansas Geological Survey.

The Ogallala Aquifer in southwest Kansas usually sees annual declines, but its drop in 2011 was one of the worst in decades, The Hutchinson News reported. KGS said the aquifer in that region dropped an average 3.78 feet in 2011. That’s compared to a drop of about 3 feet in 2010 and 1.39 feet in 2009.

The drought that plagued the state last year was the worst in generations. Much of Kansas received 25 to 50 percent of normal precipitation last year, with rain shutting off in the fall of 2010.

“The growing season was probably the worst since the 1930s,” said KGS water-data manager Brownie Wilson. “It was just awful.”

In central and south-central Kansas where groundwater levels usually show gains or only modest declines, the water table in the Equus Beds aquifer decreased an average 3.17 feet, and Big Bend district No. 5 dropped an average 3 feet. The Big Bend region just west of the Equus Beds had an increase of more than 4 feet from 2007 to 2010 before this year’s decline.

This followed modest declines of 0.26 feet and 0.70 feet the past two years in the Equus Beds and, from 1996 through 2011, the district experienced an increase of 0.40 feet.

“Last year was probably a record year of pumping and a record drought,” said Tim Boese, manager of the Equus Beds district.

Big Bend district Manager Wes Essmiller, however, said he was surprised that the water-table drops weren’t worse.

Farmers in his district took out 1,056 emergency permits through the Kansas Department of Agriculture to over pump in 2011 — the most of any district.

“We still had 3-foot declines but we were expecting 5- to 10-foot declines,” Essmiller said. “We were expecting worse and we are happy with what we came up with.”