DWR Currents

February 23, 2011

Kansas Dam Safety Conference A Big Success
Southwest Kansas Surface Water Meter Order
Legislative Update: Two New Bills, Sprint to Turnaround
Results of DWR Currents Readers’ Survey
Upcoming Events

Kansas Dam Safety Conference A Big Success
More than 160 people attended this year’s Kansas Dam Safety Conference Feb. 15-16 in Topeka – up from 140 attendees in 2010.  In addition to the 35 speakers who presented on topics including design and construction, government regulations, case studies, research, and other dam-related topics, 16 DWR employees were on site to provide one-on-one information assistance.

Right: Conference attendees gather information from exhibitor booths.

When polled, attendees indicated they enjoyed the range of topics, and several said they appreciated the introduction of dam slope vegetation presentations and the invasive species presentations of Jason Goeckler, Kansas Wildlife and Parks (“Aquatic Nuisance Species: Asian Carp”) and Ed Wiley, Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, who discussed ecological forecasting that uses physics, ecology and physiology to predict ecosystem change in response to environmental factors.

Said Brock Emmert, Watershed Institute, “I liked the opening sessions of each day and really liked the Streams Workshop.  I don’t have time to read all the regulation changes, so it was a topic I was interested in.”

Right: Leonard Bristow of DWR visits with a conference attendee.

Many also said the presentation of Michael Everhart, Sternberg Museum of Natural History, courtesy of Kansas Humanities Council, was a highlight.  Everhart, an advisor for National Geographic’s Imax movie Sea Monsters and also for documentaries on Discovery Channel and History Channel, took his audience back to the time when the state of Kansas was covered by an ocean, the source of today’s oil, natural gas, salt, gypsum, limestone, shale, clay, and fossil wealth.

This conference is a substantial deliverable for the FEMA dam safety grant awarded to DWR, providing education and outreach to various stakeholders and partners.  As shown in the chart below, over half of the attendees were from engineering firms, with representatives from cities and counties making up the next largest segments.  People representing ten different private and government sectors attended and benefitted from the conference.

We plan to post available dam safety conference presentations on our website in the near future, and we’ll notify DWR Currents readers when this information is posted.  Our website contains helpful information about the dam safety program including seminars, permitting, fact sheets, forms, guidance documents and more.


Southwest Kansas Surface Water Meter Order
On Feb. 3, Chief Engineer David Barfield issued an order requiring installation of water flowmeters on surface water right points of diversion within the boundaries of Groundwater Management District Nos. 1, 3, and 5.

Owners of surface water rights in the affected areas have until Dec. 31, 2011 to comply with the requirements of the meter order.  If a meter is already installed for any affected water right, the owner is responsible for submitting a meter installation report form to DWR by April 1, 2011.

Right: Cut-away view of an installed water flowmeter.

The purpose of requiring the installation of meters is to facilitate the need for increased water management and to promote the efficient use of water in the area.  Most areas in Kansas are already required to have meters.

It is understood that many surface water diversions in the western portions of the state are no longer in regular use because of a lack of water.  DWR staff will perform field visits to authorized pump sites in order to determine whether or not a meter is installed.  If no meter is found, for whatever reason, then DWR will issue an order requiring any diversion of water for non-domestic uses to cease until a meter is installed and the installation is verified by staff from our Garden City field office or Stafford field office.


Legislative Update: Two New Bills, Sprint to Turnaround
Since last week’s Currents, two more water resources bills were introduced:

• SB 214 (redefining “person” in the groundwater management district act)
• HB 2357 (Arkansas River gaging fund)

Legislative committees or chambers worked several water resources bills over the past week:

• SB 122 (easements in navigable rivers): approved as amended by Senate Natural Resources
• SB 124 (Lower Smoky access district): approved as amended by Senate Natural Resources
• SB 147 (interstate water litigation fund): substitute bill approved by Senate Agriculture
• HB 2140 (repealing expired committees): passed by the House
• HB 2231 (multi-year flex accounts): approved as amended by House Agriculture and Natural Resources

“Turnaround” refers to the deadline for bills to be passed out of the house of origin.  This year, turnaround is Feb. 25.  Some water resources bills were “blessed” this week – that is, referred by legislative leadership to a committee that is exempt from the turnaround deadline:

• SB 187 (water banking act): referred to Senate Ways and Means
• SB 191 (water rights conservation program): referred to Senate Ways and Means
• HB 2109 (dam rehabilitation program): referred to House Appropriations

It is possible that other bills may be passed prior to the turnaround deadline.

A water resources bill summary on our website provides links to 14 bills being tracked by DWR, along with a brief description of each bill and its status.

KDA testimony on bills, as well as KDA reports and presentations to the legislature, are also available on the agency website.


Results of DWR Currents Readers’ Survey
Sixty-eight external subscribers to DWR Currents, our weekly electronic newsletter, have responded to this year’s readers’ survey – a 17 percent response rate.

Here’s a summary of the survey results:

• Topics: Most respondents (60 percent) ranked “DWR activities” as the type of content they’re most interested in, followed by legislative issues, upcoming events, staff news and web updates in that order.
• Distribution, Format, Links: Ninety-seven percent of respondents said our method of distribution (brief email summary with links to the full articles online) is “just right”; 96 percent rated the style and readability “just right”; and 93 percent felt the links to additional online sources are helpful.
• Interest: Seventy-nine percent of respondents read each issue of Currents, while 21 percent read it occasionally.
• Pass it on: An increasing number of respondents (38 percent) have utilized the “send to a friend” feature to forward the newsletter notification.
• Past issues: A significant portion of respondents (46 percent) have looked up past issues of Currents on DWR’s website.

Suggestions for future topics include:

• Missouri River issues and riparian projects in Kansas
• Water use trends by area or source and water level trends
• Water right values and leasing information

  Of 25 survey comments received about DWR Currents newsletter: 18 were positive, 5 were neutral, and two contained constructive criticism. Here are a few of the positive remarks: “I enjoy the news.  Short enough to fit in my week, but has interesting and timely information.” “A great way to keep the public informed.  I like the format and content.” “Just right.  A weekly snapshot to keep me apprised of water issues in Kansas.” “I appreciate the timeliness and the brief, focused nature of it.  Keep ‘em coming!”

• Dam safety and funding for dams and levees
• Base flood elevations and agricultural levee certification

Suggestions for improving Currents include:

• Better accuracy for upcoming event dates and locations
• “How to” columns explaining how to apply for different permits, etc
• Listing upcoming regulation hearings whether scheduled or not

We appreciate the time and consideration in the survey responses.  We will continue striving to maintain and improve the quality and usefulness of DWR Currents.  Feel free to contact us anytime with suggestions or comments using our online comment form.


Upcoming Events

• Mar. 3: GMD 4 Board Meeting (Hoxie)
• Mar. 8: GMD 2 Board Meeting (Halstead)
• Mar. 9: GMD 3 Annual Meeting (Ulysses)
• Mar. 10: GMD 5 Board Meeting (Stafford)

For more information about these and other upcoming events, please check our online events listings.