DWR Currents

March 30, 2010


Chief Engineer Meets with GMD 1 Board
Chief Engineer David Barfield met with the board of Western Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 1 at their regularly monthly meeting March 16 in Scott City.

At the meeting, Barfield provided the board with the division’s comments on the GMD’s proposed regulation to formally close the district to new water appropriation.  Barfield also reviewed the division’s proposed statewide regulations set for hearing on April 7 (see related article below) and discussed other water management issues.

At the GMD 1 annual meeting that afternoon, Barfield provided the audience with an update on Kansas water issues and the status of interstate compact disputes.  The PowerPoint presentations, “Kansas Interstate Compact Update” and “Kansas Water Issues Update,”   are posted on DWR’s website.


Hearing Scheduled April 7 for Changes in Water Appropriation Rules
Chief Engineer David Barfield will conduct a public hearing April 7 in Topeka regarding several proposed changes in administrative rules and regulations under the Kansas Water Appropriation Act:

• GMD 2: 15 acre-feet exemptions (amended) – The proposed amendments change the conditions under which 15 acre-feet exemptions will be allowed within Equus Beds Groundwater Management District No. 2.  The amendments will require that approval of a 15 acre-feet exemption not authorize more than 15 acre-feet when combined with another right or allow a 15 acre-feet exemption to be pumped through a common distribution system with another water right.

• GMD 5: 15 acre-feet exemptions (amended) – The proposed amendments change the conditions under which 15 acre-feet exemptions will be allowed within Big Bend Groundwater Management District No. 5.  Fifteen acre-feet exemptions in the Rattlesnake Creek, Arkansas River, Walnut Creek, Pawnee River and Buckner Creek basins will require offsets.  The regulation also sets the spacing of 15 acre-feet applications to one mile within the entire district.

• Statewide: Impairment investigations (amended and new) – The proposed amendments and new section add requirements for nondomestic complainants to demonstrate that their well and pump system are adequate; provide a formal process for groundwater management districts to provide input and assistance for impairment investigations within their boundaries; more specifically detail the steps involved in impairment claims and investigations; and establish procedures for instances when impairment is found to result from regional lowering of the water table.

• Statewide: Due and sufficient cause for nonuse (amended) – The proposed amendments clarify the existing adequate moisture due and sufficient cause; add a new due and sufficient cause for water rights in closed areas; and require that most due and sufficient causes be conditional upon maintaining functional diversion works.  [Note: If Governor Parkinson signs House Substitute for Senate Bill 316, passed by the Legislature last week, the new due and sufficient cause for water rights in closed areas will be modified to be consistent with the bill.]

• Statewide: Water flowmeter specification and compliance (amended) – The proposed amendments change the conditions under which water meter seals will be required to be installed. Meter seals that make it impossible to alter the totalizer reading will be required unless parallel water records are kept.

Teleconference sites will be offered in Garden City, Halstead, Stafford and Stockton for members of the public who want to participate in the hearing without traveling to Topeka.  Individuals also have the option of submitting written comments via mail, email, or online comment form on the Kansas Department of Agriculture website.

More information, including public hearing notices, text of the proposed rules, economic impact statements and online comment forms are available via DWR’s website.


Federal Appointments Requested for Compact Commission
Chief Engineer David Barfield and J. D. Strong, interim director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, sent a joint letter to President Barack Obama last week to request federal appointments for chair and vice chair of the Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact Commission.

This request was precipitated by the resignation of former chair William Franklin last year due to health reasons.

Kansas and Oklahoma are recommending Earnest Gilder of Muskogee, Oklahoma, for chair and Michael Mayberry of Kiowa, Kansas, for vice chair.  Gilder is an accomplished businessman and current vice chair of the commission.  Mayberry has served in a number of elected and appointed local and state government positions.

The chair and vice chair of this compact administration are nonvoting members responsible for conducting compact meetings.

Each state has three compact commissioners appointed by their governor.  Currently, the commissioners from Kansas are Chief Engineer David Barfield, Kent Ott of Mulvane and Peggy Blackman of Marion.

Kansas and Oklahoma entered the Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact in 1965 to promote interstate comity, to equitably divide and promote the orderly development of the waters of the Lower Arkansas River Basin, to provide an agency for administering the waters of the basin and to encourage an active pollution abatement program in each state.


Kansas Featured in National Geographic Special Issue on Water
The April 2010 special issue of National Geographic Magazine, "Water: Our Thirsty World," focuses on various water problems around the globe.  This issue includes a graphic showing a cutaway view of the Ogallala aquifer in Haskell County, Kansas.  It illustrates the large number of wells installed (more than 1,000) and the substantial drop in groundwater levels (more than 100 feet) from 1950 to 2007.

In the online edition of the magazine, the Ogallala graphic includes animation showing the addition of wells and drop in the water table over time.

The graphic is based in part on information provided by DWR.  In addition to the Kansas Department of Agriculture, other sources cited in the graphic are the Kansas Geological Survey, U.S. Geological Survey and NASA.

Also featured in this special issue is a photograph of the Flint Hills in Kansas during an intense rain storm.

Some parts of the special issue are available on National Geographic’s website.  The special issue on water will be available at newsstands beginning March 30.


National Weather Service Forecasts Above-Average Flood Risks in Eastern Kansas
The National Weather Service reports that major flooding has begun and is forecast to continue through spring in parts of the Midwest.  The El Niño climate cycle this winter brought more moisture than usual.

Supporting the forecast of imminent Midwest flooding is a snowpack more extensive than in 2009 and containing in excess of 10 inches of liquid water in some locations.  Until early March, consistently cold temperatures limited snow melt and runoff.  These conditions exist on top of above-normal streamflows, December precipitation that was up to four times above average, and ground frozen to a depth as much as three feet below the surface.

Overall, more than a third of the contiguous United States has an above average flood risk––with the highest threat in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa, including along the Red River Valley where crests could approach the record levels set just last year.

As of Tuesday, March 30, the U.S. Geological Survey’s WaterWatch website indicated no streams above flood stage in Kansas, but flooding at two stream gages along Kansas’ border:

• Missouri River at Rulo, Nebraska
• Missouri River at St. Joseph, Missouri

Several streams in northeast and southeast Kansas are experiencing high flows but are currently below flood stage.


Legislative Updates
There was activity on several water resource bills last week:

• HSSB 316 (nonuse in closed areas) – On March 24, the Senate concurred with House Substitute for Senate Bill 316, which would amend K.S.A. 82a-718 to establish that “...a groundwater right, which has as its local supply an aquifer area that has been closed to new appropriations by rule, regulation or order of the chief engineer and where means of diversion are available to put water to a beneficial use within a reasonable time, shall be deemed to have due and sufficient cause for nonuse and shall not be deemed abandoned.”  The bill now goes to the governor.

• SB 574 (replenishing interstate water litigation fund) – On March 23, the Senate passed Senate Bill 574, which would transfer from the state general fund into the interstate water litigation fund $2 million in fiscal year 2012 and $3 million in each of fiscal years 2013 through 2017 for monitoring and enforcing compliance with interstate water compacts and settlements, judgments and decrees.  On March 23 the bill was introduced in the House and on March 24 it was referred to the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.

• HB 2283 (annexation of rural water districts) – On March 24, Governor Parkinson signed into law House Bill 2283, which requires a city to give written notice to a rural water district not less than 60 days before the effective date of a proposed annexation of land served by the district into the city.  If the city designates a different supplier of water for the annexed area, the city would be required to purchase the property, facilities, improvements, and going concern value of the district located in the annexed territory.  HB 2283 also outlines the method in which the city and rural water district is to engage in mediation.  In addition, the bill outlines the additional factors that must be determined by a rural water district’s governing body when determining whether lands should be released.  The bill takes effect on its publication in the Kansas Statute Book.  At the end of last session, HB 2283 was amended to include language related to IGUCAs; this was removed this session by a conference committee.

• SHB 2428 (reservoir sustainability) – On March 23, the House passed Substitute for House Bill 2428, which would allow increased state funding of streambank stabilization projects, simplify procedures for securing state-controlled storage for water supplies in federal reservoirs, and facilitate renovation of multipurpose lakes with preference to projects for flood control and public water supply and/or recreation.  On March 23 the bill was introduced in the Senate and on March 24 it was referred to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources.

• HCR 5012 and HCR 5013 (reservoir issues) – On March 18, the Senate approved House Concurrent Resolutions 5012 and 5013.  The first resolution expresses support for congressional authorization and funding of a review of the federal Flood Control Act of 1944, with an intent that the review should determine changes needed to make the act better reflect and serve the contemporary needs of the Missouri River Basin and its tributaries.  The second resolution memorializes the desire for Kansas to have a strong working relationship and partnership with the appointed United States Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works in order to protect, preserve and extend the productive lives of reservoirs in Kansas.  On March 24 these resolutions were enrolled, which means they were printed with legislative leadership signatures for presentation to the Kansas Secretary of State.

To our knowledge there was no action last week on the following bills previously reported in DWR Currents:

• SB 510 (establishing conservation use as a beneficial use of water)
• SB 558 (securing interstate water litigation fund)
• HB 2493 (dam hazard classifications and inspections)

The text and status of bills are available on the Kansas Legislature website.  You can read any testimony we provided on the Kansas Department of Agriculture Government Relations web page.  

The Legislature did not meet in regular session on March 25 and 26.  They reconvened Monday, March 29.

The Legislature’s joint scheduling resolution indicates possible first adjournment on March 30, March 31 or April 1.  The veto session is scheduled to begin April 28, and sine die adjournment is scheduled on May 28.


Upcoming Events

• March 30-April 1: Kansas Rural Water Association Conference (Wichita)
• April 6: Basics of National Flood Insurance Program training (Belleville)
• April 7: Public hearings on proposed amendments to water appropriation regulations (Topeka – with teleconference stations at Garden City, Halstead, Stafford and Stockton)
• April 20-23: Culvert, Drainage and Levee Maintenance workshops by Kansas University Transportation Center (Colby, Hays, McPherson and Junction City)
• April 21: Public hearing on proposed amendment to water banking regulations (Topeka)
• May 6: Substantial Damage Estimation class (Lyons)
• May 13: How to Read a Flood Map training (Bonner Springs)
• May 13-14: Kansas Water Authority meeting (Wichita)

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