Walnut Creek IGUCA

Barton, Rush and Ness Counties

Initiated: March 13, 1990

Reasons for Request

  • The Division completed a report titled, "Availability of Water in Walnut Creek, its Tributaries, their Valley Alluviums, and Hydraulically Connected Aquifers", September 1989
  • Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, requested the chief engineer initiate proceedings in areas that affect the water right for Cheyenne Bottoms in the Walnut Creek drainage basin
  • Groundwater levels appeared to be declining or had declined excessively, rate of withdrawal of groundwater equaled or exceeded rate of recharge, and conditions existed which required regulation in the public interest
  • Big Bend GMD No. 5 requested that the Chief Engineer initiate proceedings in Walnut Creek in Barton County.
Public Hearings: December 4-7, 1990, January 3-4, February 5-8, March 19-22 and 26-28, 1991, April 18, 1991
Order issued: January 29, 1992 - Adobe PDF Available

Conclusions:

  • Overall groundwater levels in the area have declined on a long-term basis and in certain parts of the area, have declined excessively
  • Withdrawals of groundwater exceed recharge as evidenced by the declining groundwater levels
  • Walnut Creek and its valley alluvium are hydraulically connected; declining groundwater levels are in part responsible for declines in baseflow; streamflow in Walnut Creek, provides some recharge to the aquifer
  • Conservation practices, terraces, tillage practices, farm ponds, and watershed structures are in part responsible for declines in overland runoff and declines in streamflow
  • Walnut Creek historically is an intermittent stream that has periods of little or no baseflow
  • Long-term sustainable yield of the aquifer is no more than approximately 22,700 acre-feet per year
  • IGUCA should be established
  • Excluded some areas originally proposed (South of Dry Walnut Creek)
  • Closed the area to further appropriations of ground and surface water
  • In the public interest to regulate ground and surface water in the hydrologic system
  • Surface water may require different controls in order to allow surface water to be captured during periods when adequate flow is available
  • In a water-short hydrologic system, water by any water user may affect the amount of water available to some or all other users in the area
  • In the public interest to allow the aquifer to recharge to a level (other than fluctuations caused by climatic variations) to where water levels are at or above the streambed elevation; baseflow would be present more frequently; when baseflow is present, any runoff would make its way downstream further than if baseflow was not present; Average annual groundwater withdrawals be limited to no more than long-term sustainable yield
  • Appropriation rights in excess of the reasonable needs shall not be allowed
  • Waste of water defined and if waste of water occurs, chief engineer may suspend use of that water right until owner shows that it will no longer occur.
  • Water use requirements can vary from year-to-year based on factors such as climatic, location, type of crop grown, water use efficiency and that a currently reasonable amount of water is less than what may have been authorized or perfected historically
  • Reasonable average annual amount of water needed to divert for irrigation
    • Barton County, 12 inches
    • Rush County, 13 inches
    • Ness County, 14 inches
  • It is in the public interest to allow flexibility by setting allocations on a five year basis ( 5 times the reasonable average annual amount, which allows use to exceed the reasonable annual average to degree necessary to meet water demands without waste or excess use as long as the total allocated for the 5 years is not exceeded)
  • Vested and appropriation rights, authorized for groundwater use, in order of priority, total accumulated authorized quantity of approximately 22,700 acre-feet/year are considered senior rights for purposes of determining allocations. For the first 5 year period these senior water rights include priority dates on or before October 1, 1965
  • Junior appropriation rights are defined as appropriation rights with priority dates after October 1, 1965
  • Vested water rights are allocated their full authorized quantities
  • Senior water rights allocated an amount deemed reasonable for the area
  • Junior water rights are allocated the remaining portion of the approximately 22,700 acre-feet
  • Cheyenne Bottoms is an extremely important wetland and water is essential for its maintenance
  • Inadequate information in the record to determine additional management criteria for the surface water impoundments
  • Flowmeters are needed
  • Establish an advisory committee to make recommendations to the chief engineer deemed necessary to refine and evaluate the management of the IGUCA and changes to the corrective controls

Provisions

  • Closed the area to further appropriations
  • Required installation of flowmeters
  • Required water users to file water user reports no later than March 1 and asked for additional information to be reported (static water level, serial number of meter, meter reading at the beginning and end of calendar year, any additional information needed to administer order)
  • Set Five-year allocations
  • Set long-term sustainable yield at approximately 22, 700 acre-feet
  • Defined the reasonable quantities based on priority and maximum acres irrigated between 1985 to 1990
    • Vested current authorized quantities
    • Senior: Barton 12 inches multiplied by max acres irrigated; Rush 13 inches multiplied by max acres irrigated; and Ness 14 inches multiplied by max acres irrigated
    • Junior (44 % of the allocations for senior rights): Barton 5.25 inches multiplied by max acres irrigated; Rush 5.75 inches multiplied by max acres irrigated; and Ness 6.25 inches multiplied by max acres irrigated
  • Municipal, non-vested allocated 1989 population and reasonable per capita use or the quantity authorized, whichever is less
  • Non-vested for all other types of use are allocated 90% of maximum use reported from 1985 to 1990 or sum of the annual quantity of vested and senior and 44% of appropriation authorized
  • Groundwater use may divert allocation for any authorized place of use from a combination of any of the wells authorized to divert
  • Approximately each five year the chief engineer may evaluate the information collect from additional studies, status of water rights and permits and make adjustments in corrective controls
  • If water user exceeds five year allocation, the amount allocated for the next five years is reduced by twice the amount over pumped
  • DWR sends out to each water user the five year allocation
  • Required all vested rights for surface and groundwater use, municipal and industrial appropriation rights for surface or groundwater use and holders of recreation surface rights to file conservation plans
  • Chief engineer may adopt any special policies and procedures deemed in the public interest
  • Corrective controls are incorporated as conditions of each water right authorized in the IGUCA area
  •  Established an advisory committee to make recommendations and composed of each formal participant at the conclusion of the hearing. This committee met 16 times between 1992 and 2001, made several recommendations to the chief engineer, which have been adopted, and is still in existence although it has not met recently.
  • Chief engineer may make changes deemed to be in the public interest
Partial Stay and Request for Temporary Remedies filed on February 19, 1992 by the Walnut Creek Basin Association and Mid Kansas Quality Water Association
  • The order issued on January 29, 1992 remained in full force and effect as written
  • Request for partial stay and temporary remedies were denied in part and granted in part
Supplemental Order issued December 6, 1996 - Adobe PDF Available
  • April 9, 1996 Walnut Creek IGUCA Advisory Committee made recommendations to the chief engineer to increase allocations for the City of Otis helium plan;
  • Allow carry over any allocation unused in the five year period 1992 to 1996 to the new five year period 1997-2001;
  • Compute allocations for water rights that had been in CRP during the 1985 to 1990
  • Chief Engineer concluded that the recommendations would not injure any existing water rights and granted the recommendations
Amended Order issued June 24, 1998 - Adobe PDF Available
  • The Supplemental Order, December 6, 1996 did not take into account those cases where a water right was found to be in good standing and no acres were reported as irrigated during the 6 years prior to enrollment in the CRP
  • The Amended Order provided a means for calculating an allocation for water rights in CRP with no reported irrigated acres the 6 years prior to enrollment
Supplemental Amended Order (III) June 29, 2001 - Adobe PDF Available
  • Allowed each water right owner to carry over unused allocations from any one five year allocation period to the next five year allocation period so long as it doesn't exceed the maximum authorized quantity
  • Allow applications to be filed for additional rate, with applicable conditions