Division of Water Resources

David W. Barfield, P.E. - Chief Engineer

The Division of Water Resources administers 32 laws and responsibilities including the Kansas Water Appropriation Act which governs how water is allocated and used; statutes regulating the construction of dams, levees and other changes to streams; the state's four interstate river compacts; as well as coordinating the national flood insurance program in Kansas. (David's Biography and Twitter account)

[Water Appropriation] [Water Structures] [Water Management Services]

[Interstate Water Issues] [Basin Management Team]

[Comments and Suggestions]

News:

The August 24, 2010 DWR Currents, our weekly newsletter, with news about examination of dam safety, GMD 5's new manager, drought creeping into Kansas, and meet the staff: Chelsea Juricek.

Due to website maintenance this week, the next issue of DWR Currents will not be posted until September 2.

A temporary regulation (K.A.R. 5-3-23) was adopted by the Chief Engineer on August 16, 2010, establishing the maximum reasonable annual quantity approvable for irrigation use for an application for change in place of use and a request to reduce a water right.

A public hearing will be conducted at 1:30 p.m. Monday, October 25, 2010, in the 4th floor training room of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, 109 S.W. 9th, Topeka, to consider permanent adoption of proposed regulations.

K.A.R. 5-3-23 establishes the maximum reasonable annual quantity approvable for irrigation use for an application for change in place of use and a request to reduce a water right.

K.A.R. 5-25-5 requires each non-domestic well in the Big Bend Groundwater Management District No. 5 (GMD 5) to be equipped with a water flowmeter.

The full public hearing notice, economic impact statements and proposed regulations are available for download.

On May 3, 2010, the state of Kansas filed suit against the state of Nebraska in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding Nebraska’s violations of the Republican River Compact. For more information, including the full text of Kansas' pleading, please see the Republican River Compact and Enforcement Update web page. A KDA Press Release is also available.

The following regulations were recently amended and became effective May 21:

K.A.R. 5-1-4 - Water flowmeter specifications.

K.A.R. 5-1-9 - Criteria to determine when a water flowmeter is out of compliance.

K.A.R. 5-7-1 - Due and sufficient cause for nonuse.

K.A.R. 5-17-2 - Application to deposit a water right into a water bank or withdraw a deposit.

K.A.R. 5-25-15 - Exemptions for up to 15 acre-feet of groundwater in GMD 5.

K.A.R. 5-22-7: Safe yield in GMD 2. (Became effective on May 14, 2010.)

The fully updated Rules and Regulations book, including those specific to GMD No. 2 and GMD No. 5, are available online as an Adobe Acrobat PDF.

DWR is organized as follows:

Water Appropriation - Manages the state's water supply through a system of permits, reviews and inspections.
Water Structures - Regulates activities affecting streams by ensuring that they are properly planned, constructed, operated and maintained for their authorized purposes without adversely affecting the environment, public health and welfare, and public and private property.
Water Management Services - Provides technical and data support to all agency water programs and includes the following sub-programs:
- Interstate Water Issues - Kansas is party to compacts that allocate water from the Arkansas, Big Blue, Missouri and Republican rivers.
- Basin Management Team - Works to develop water management strategies to address water resource issues identified in the Kansas State Water Plan.

Links to Key DWR Web Pages

DWR Statutes and Regulations

DWR Forms

Your comments and suggestions are encouraged! Here is how to contact us.

KANSAS department of agriculture