DWR Currents

April 27, 2010

Regulations Update
Chief Engineer David Barfield conducted public hearings on April 7 regarding several rules and regulations.  An update on the status of these regulations is provided below.

• Adopted: Changes to GMD 2’s 15 acre-feet exemption rules have been permanently adopted and will go into effect May 14, 2010.  The amendments 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.

• Revised: The proposed regulations regarding 15 acre-feet exemptions in GMD 5, due and sufficient causes for nonuse of a water right, and water flowmeter specifications and compliance were revised based on comments from members of the public and/or the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations.  The post-hearing changes have been approved by both the Department of Administration and Attorney General’s office, and a certificate of adoption is being prepared to submit these regulations to the Secretary of State’s office for publication.  More information about these regulations follows:

• 15 acre-feet exemptions in GMD 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.

• Due and sufficient cause for nonuse: 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.

• Water flowmeter specifications and compliance: 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.

• Under consideration: The chief engineer and staff are considering revisions to the impairment investigations regulations based on comments from members of the public and the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations.  As presented in the public hearing the proposed impairment investigation regulations 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.

We will post information on DWR’s home page when the adopted regulations become available and we will report any further updates about the other regulations in DWR Currents.

Water Flowmeter Test Stand May Be Relocated or Sold
DWR is looking for an organization to establish and operate an independent water flowmeter training, testing and certification facility in Kansas that meets National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) criteria.  If a partner cannot be found, and an agreement completed in the next few weeks, DWR may be looking for buyers for components of the agency’s mothballed flowmeter test stand located at the University of Kansas.

The flowmeter test stand was developed in the early 2000s with win-win goals: to provide civil engineering students practical experience in measuring the flow of water through pipes while providing a program for training, testing and certifying DWR field staff and others who perform tests of installed water flowmeters.  The facility was also intended for testing and certifying equipment used to check the accuracy of installed water flowmeters that measure the rate and quantity of surface water and groundwater use at locations throughout Kansas.

The 40-foot long test stand is made up of a series of aluminum, steel and plastic pipes measuring 4 inches, 6 inches, 8 inches and 10-inches in diameter.  The idea was to replicate the materials and sizes of pipes commonly encountered in irrigation, municipal and industrial facilities.  To efficiently use the lab space, the pipes are arranged on racks.

Right: Water flowmeter test stand in the hydraulics laboratory at the University of Kansas.

Using an elevated water tank that maintains a constant head, water can be released through the pipes at rates from 100 gallons per minute to 1,200 gallons per minute.  The system is designed with manifolds and valves to vary the rate of flow through selected pipes.  Technicians would clamp nonintrusive ultrasonic transit time flow meters to the outside of a selected pipe and measure the rate of flow (gallons per minute) to determine the accuracy of the nonintrusive flowmeters and to test technicians’ skills.  Two integrated electromagnetic flowmeters also provide experience reading and testing the accuracy of in-line meters, as well as providing NIST traceability for verified accuracy.

After the flowmeter test stand was assembled in 2003, there was some training, testing and certification of DWR staff involved in regulating flowmeters in Kansas.  Unfortunately, though, this initiative never gained enough momentum to fully realize and sustain the original goals.  KU and DWR have not operated the test stand in several years, and earlier this month KU asked DWR to remove the equipment because KU needs the limited lab space for other purposes.

DWR needs an independent organization to run the test stand to achieve third-party certification of the agency’s technicians and equipment.  While DWR owns the test stand assembled at KU, we lack the resources to run an NIST-certified test stand and it is not part of our core mission.  Since there is no known test facility of this kind in Kansas, DWR has had to bring its nonintrusive flowmeters to an NIST-certified testing facility in Nebraska for annual testing.

We will contact several colleges in Kansas to determine whether there is any interest in taking on this program.  If this does not pan out, we will probably have to sell off some components and dispose of the rest.

If you know of an organization that might be interested in acquiring the test stand – preferably to operate it in the manner described above, or, if only for salvageable parts – please contact Paul Graves at (785) 296-3710 or paul.graves@kda.ks.gov.


Upcoming Events

• 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.