DWR Currents
June 14, 2010
Revised Water Use Restrictions Imposed at Stevens County Impairment Site
Chief Engineer David Barfield has ordered an irrigator in Stevens County to reduce or curtail his pumping if water levels drop to specified elevations at a neighboring irrigation well with an earlier (senior) water right. Barfield also ordered the irrigator with the later (junior) water right to use real-time irrigation scheduling to conserve water.
DWR has been gathering data at this site since an impairment complaint was filed several years ago. Restrictions affecting the use of the junior water right have been in place since 2008. The restrictions have changed each year in response to requests from the water right owner and based on new information.
Both wells pump from a thin, confined zone of the Ogallala aquifer. The response (drawdown) at the senior well from pumping at the junior well is rapid and pronounced. It appears that conditions at this site are not typical for the Ogallala aquifer, where most wells are sourced from thicker, unconfined zones.
DWR has outfitted the senior irrigation well with instruments to monitor the water level and transmit the data to a third-party website. This real-time data is continuously available to the agency and the water right owners for monitoring and decision-support purposes.
Right: Example of data logger to record pumping rate and time for an impairment investigation.
To learn more, visit our Impairment Complaints web page. Also see our fact sheet, “Investigating Impairment Complaints
.”
Data Posted for Upper Ark and Solomon River Subbasins, Ogallala and Ozark Aquifers
Since 2007, DWR has prepared annual reports, or field summaries, that provide data on precipitation, streamflow, groundwater levels and other information about Basin Management Team project areas.
Several 2009 field summaries were recently completed and posted on DWR’s website for these subbasins: Upper Arkansas River Subbasin, Upper Solomon River Subbasin, Lower Solomon River Subbasin, Mainstem Solomon River Subbasin, Ogallala-High Plains Aquifer and Ozark Plateau Aquifer.
Some of the main findings in these reports are:
- In 2008, the most recent year for which data is currently available, total water use was below the historical average in the Upper Ark, Solomon, Ogallala fringe (area outside the groundwater management districts) and in the Ozark.
- In 2009, precipitation was a little higher than the historical average in the Upper Ark; ranged from a little below average to significantly above average in the Solomon; was higher than average in the Ogallala; and was significantly above average in the Ozark.
- In 2009, streamflow in the Upper Ark at the state line was greater than in 2008; showed little change from 2008 in the Solomon; were generally lower in the Ogallala area compared with 2008; and showed little change in the Ozark area compared with 2008.
- At the beginning of 2010, some Upper Ark groundwater levels showed little change from the previous year while others continued to drop; some Solomon groundwater levels increased,
some stayed the same and some dropped; overall there was little change in the Ogallala fringe (area outside the groundwater management districts) and in the Ozark.
Right: A graph from the Ozark aquifer field summary report showing historical variation and average annual precipitation in southeast Kansas.
In the May 3 DWR Currents, DWR announced 2009 field summaries for other project areas including the Middle Arkansas River Subbasin, Rattlesnake Creek Subbasin and Pawnee River-Buckner Creek Subbasin.
The field summaries provide accurate, relevant information to decision makers and the public. The Basin Management Team welcomes feedback and suggestions on ways to improve the usefulness of these reports. Please feel free to contact us with your comments.
Kansas Water Office Starts New Quarterly Publication
| Some people confuse DWR with KWO, or think we are the same agency. It may be because “water” is both of our middle names. Plus, our agencies are headquartered one floor apart in the Mills Building in Topeka, and we work closely together on a number of issues. But there are some important differences: DWR, a division of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, is primarily responsible for regulating water rights and water structures such as dams, administering interstate river compacts, and serving as the state coordinator for the National Flood Insurance Program. KWO is a non-cabinet level agency responsible for developing the Kansas Water Plan, administering state-owned storage in federal reservoirs, and other nonregulatory functions. |
The WaterFront is a new quarterly newsletter from the Kansas Water Office. Its target audience is members of the Kansas Water Authority and basin advisory committees, but it’s also available to the general public through the 
Kansas Water Office website.
The inaugural Summer 2010 issue of The WaterFront includes a message from KWO Director Tracy Streeter and articles on Kansas’ ranking among states in natural resource spending, the 2010
Legislature’s actions on budget and policy issues, a profile of Kansas Water Authority chairman Steve Irsik, a federal bill titled “America’s Commitment to Clean Water Act,” an overview of state-owned water storage, and a calendar of upcoming events.
“There are several reasons for producing The WaterFront,” Streeter explains in the newsletter. These include revised selection criteria for the 120 basin advisory committee members that led to “the most highly qualified slate of local volunteers the Kansas water planning process has ever seen”; the increasing complexity of challenging water issues including reservoir sedimentation and declines in the Ogallala-High Plains aquifer; as well as the expanded role of BACs in communicating local perspectives with legislators and stakeholders.
Reclamation Calls Nebraska’s Plans for Republican River Basin “Inadequate”
The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, Upper Republican River Natural Resources District and Middle Republican River Natural Resources District conducted public hearings last week on their proposed Integrated Management Plans.
The public hearing notices stated the following purposes for these plans:
“The goals of the IMP are to maintain compliance with the Republican River Compact, ensure that ground water and surface water users assume their share of the responsibility to keep Nebraska in compliance with the Republican River Compact, distribute that responsibility in an equitable manner, reserve and protect from other uses the streamflow available from regulation or programs and protect those uses in place prior to the time of designation from new uses.”
In testimony last week, Aaron Thompson, manager of the Nebraska-Kansas area office of the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, called the plans “inadequate” and said each of the plans “fails to protect Reclamation’s senior water rights from direct and substantial groundwater development of the hydrologically connected waters of the Republican River basin...that occurred following approval of the compact and subsequent investment of infrastructure.”
Right: Graph showing threefold decrease in inflows to Harlan County Reservoir since 1961. This reservoir is located in Nebraska a few miles from the point where the Republican River crosses into north-central Kansas. Shortages of water in the reservoir negatively impact water deliveries to Kansas. (Image courtesy of Bureau of Reclamation. Click to enlarge.)
Reclamation owns and operates several large reservoirs in the Republican River basin, providing water for irrigation as well as flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. These projects – a federal investment of more than $230 million in 1950 dollars – were specifically planned and designed to work in concert with the compact. Post-compact development of wells, primarily for irrigation systems in Nebraska, has contributed to drastically reduced inflows to Reclamation’s reservoirs, impacting its ability to carry out the authorized purposes.
Near the end of his testimony, Thompson noted:
“Reclamation is willing to continue working with the all the NRDs and the State [of Nebraska] as they seek compliance with the Compact. The IMP should recognize and protect the investment of the United States’ taxpayers made decades ago. To ensure compliance in the long term, Reclamation believes there must be a healthy surface water component in the Basin. To accomplish this we believe reduction in ground water pumping must be significantly more than currently provided in the IMP to allow stream flows to begin to recover.”
This is consistent with the State of Kansas’ position. DWR’s website contains more information about Kansas’ efforts to enforce the Republican River Compact.
Upcoming Events
- June 15: GMD 1 Board Meeting (Scott City)
- July 1: GMD 4 Board Meeting (Colby)
- July 13: GMD 2 Board Meeting (Halstead)
- July 14: Basics of National Flood Insurance Program (Arkansas City)
- July 27-28: National Watershed Coalition Operations & Maintenance Workshop (Mayetta)
- July 28: Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact Annual Meeting (Arkansas City)
For more information about these and other upcoming events, please check our online events listings.
