Kansas Soil Moisture Update – September 30, 2026
A second straight week of widespread rainfall brought substantial soil moisture gains across nearly all of Kansas during September 23–30, with the biggest improvements in western and central Kansas. The statewide average fraction of plant available water (FAW) in the top 20 inches (50 cm) of the soil profile climbed from 0.35 to 0.60 (above average), and the area below the water-stress threshold fell to 37%. Nemaha, Wichita, and Brown counties are the wettest (FAW of 0.98; essentially a full profile at field capacity), while Cowley, Rice, and Stafford counties reported the lowest county averages (FAW of 0.23–0.28).
Understanding Plant Available Water and FAW
Plant available water is the portion of soil moisture that plants can use. It is the water held between the wilting point and field capacity. The maps show the fraction of available water (FAW) in the top 20 inches of soil on a scale from 0 to 1, where 0 means no plant available water remains and 1 means the soil holds its full supply after excess water has drained away. A value of 0.5 means about half the plant available water remains, a level at which many crops may begin to experience water stress. Because each mapped location is scaled to its own wilting point and field capacity, the same color represents the same fraction of available water statewide, allowing comparisons across different soil textures.
About the Kansas Soil Moisture Update
The Kansas Soil Moisture Update will provide regular snapshots of soil water conditions across the state under rainfed conditions, particularly when soil moisture can influence crop and field management decisions. The maps are developed by the Soil Water Processes Laboratory in K-State’s Department of Agronomy under the direction of Dr. Andres Patrignani and use Kansas Mesonet observations. Interactive daily maps are also available from the Soil Water Processes Laboratory at soilwater.github.io/Kansas-1km
Andres Patrignani, Associate Professor in Soil Water Processes
andrespatrignani@ksu.edu