Beneficial Uses of Water

(Excerpted from K.S.A. 82a-701 and K.A.R. 5-1-1)

Domestic Use: The use of water by any person or by a family unit or household for household purposes, or for the watering of livestock, poultry, farm and domestic animals used in operating a farm, and for the irrigation of lands not exceeding a total of two acres in area for the growing of gardens, orchards and lawns.

"Household purposes" means the use of water by a person for cooking, cleaning, washing, bathing, human consumption, rest room facilities, fire protection, and other uses normally associated with the operation of a household.

"Fire protection'' shall be considered to be use of water for household purposes if water is available from a dry hydrant that has been installed on a pond located within 1,000 feet of the residence or water can be pumped from a well located within 1,000 feet of the residence for fire protection. Household purposes shall also include the replacement of the potential net evaporation from a domestic pond of up to 1/2 acre in surface area if the pond is utilized for aesthetic purposes as an integral part of the landscaping of a house and any portion of the pond is located within 300 feet of the closest edge of the house. The maximum reasonable annual quantity of groundwater that may be pumped into a pond to be withdrawn later for domestic fire protection shall not exceed 0.06 acre-feet plus the average annual potential net evaporation for a pond at that location in the state having a surface area of 0.2 of an acre.

Household purposes shall also include the use of 1½ acre-feet of water or less per calendar year by an industrial user, restaurant, hotel, motel, church, camp, correctional facility, educational institution, or similar entity for household purposes.

Stockwatering: The watering of livestock and other uses of water directly related to the operation of a feedlot with the capacity to confine 1,000 or more head of cattle; or any other confined livestock operation or dairy that would divert 15 or more acre-feet of water per calendar year.

Stockwatering shall not include the irrigation of feed grains or other crops.

For the purposes of this subsection, a group of feedlots or other confined feeding operations shall be considered to be one feedlot or confined feeding operation if there are common feeding or other physical facilities and the group of facilities is under common management.

Municipal Use: Various uses made of water delivered through a common distribution system operated by any of the following:

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    • Municipality
    • Rural water district
    • Water district
    • Public wholesale water supply district
    • Any person or entity serving 10 or more hookups for residences or mobile homes
    • Any other similar entity distributing water to other water users for various purposes.

Municipal use shall also include the use of water by restaurants, hotels, motels, churches, camps, correctional facilities, educational institutions, and similar entities using water that does not qualify as a domestic use.

Irrigation Use: The use of water for the growing of crops, the watering of gardens, orchards, and lawns exceeding two acres in area; and the watering of golf courses, parks, cemeteries, athletic fields, racetrack grounds, and similar facilities.

Industrial Use: The use of water in connection with the manufacture, production, transport, or storage of products, or the use of water in connection with providing commercial services, including water used in connection with steam electric power plants, greenhouses, fish farms, poultry operations that are not incidental to the operation of a traditional farmstead pursuant to K.S.A. 82a-701(c) and amendments thereto, secondary and tertiary oil recovery, air conditioning, heat pumps, equipment cooling, and all uses of water associated with the removal of aggregate for commercial purposes except the following:

The evaporation caused by exposing the groundwater table or increasing the surface area of a stream, lake, pit, or quarry by excavation or dredging, unless the evaporation has a substantially adverse impact on the area groundwater supply and hydraulic dredging.

Recreational Use: Use of water in accordance with a water right that provides entertainment, enjoyment, relaxation, and fish and wildlife benefits.

Waterpower Use: The use of falling water for hydroelectric or hydromechanical power.

Artificial Recharge: The use of source water to artificially replenish the water supply in an aquifer.

Hydraulic Dredging: The removal of saturated aggregate from a stream channel, pit, or quarry by means of hydraulic suction and the pumping of the aggregate and water mixture as a slurry to a location where at least 95% of the water returns directly to the source of supply.

Contamination Remediation: The diversion of water by a state agency, or under a written agreement or order of an appropriate state agency, for the purpose of improving the water quality.

Dewatering: The removal of surface water or groundwater to facilitate the construction of a building, pipeline, or other facility; or protect a building, levee, mining activity, or other facility.

Fire Protection: The use of water for fire protection by a fire department for public protection in general.

Thermal Exchange: The use of water for climate control in a nondomestic building and in a manner that is essentially non-comsumptive to the source of supply.

Sediment Control in a Reservoir: Water that is stored in a reservoir that has no other authorized type of beneficial use, except domestic use, and stored only in the part of the reservoir designed and constructed for the storage of sediment.