DWR Currents

August 10, 2010


2009 Industrial Water Use Lowest on Record
Water use reported for industrial purposes was far below normal in 2009.  It was 18 percent lower than in 2008, 21 percent lower than the 10-year average, and 29 percent lower than the 20-year average.  At 97,367 acre-feet*, reported 2009 industrial water use was the lowest annual total in 20 years of records.

Right: Graph of reported industrial water use in Kansas from 1990 through 2009, in acre-feet*.  Source: Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources.  Use reductions from the 1990s to the 2000s are thought to be due to more precise measurements and improved efficiencies.  Click image to enlarge.

The drop in reported industrial water use from 2008 to 2009 was approximately 20,420 acre-feet.  This is about 2,000 acre-feet less than the capacity of Keith Sebelius Lake in Norton County, not considering flood storage.  It is equivalent to about 30 cubic feet per second flow rate distributed evenly over a year’s time.

The substantially lower industrial water use in 2009 is thought to stem mainly from two causes: the economic recession, which has generally slowed industrial output; and upgrades at the largest thermoelectric power plant in the state, Jeffrey Energy Center, which required shutting down a generator unit during part of 2009.

Work at the power plant resulted in less evaporation of cooling water while the unit was out of service.  The upgrades and other operational changes at Westar Energy facilities are estimated to account for approximately one-third of the difference between the 2008 and 2009 reported industrial water use.  Westar Energy reports the upgrades are complete and the affected unit is back in use.

The industrial water use reduction in 2009 means that approximately $200,000 less will be collected in water protection fees in 2010 (fiscal year 2011) compared with last year.

Under the State Water Resource Planning Act, water protection fees are collected from water users at a rate of three cents per 1,000 gallons of water appropriated for industrial use, three cents per 1,000 gallons of water appropriated for stockwatering, and three cents per 1,000 gallons of water sold at retail through public water supply systems.

Each year, DWR processes thousands of water use reports and provides industrial use and stockwatering data to the Kansas Department of Revenue.  KDOR then collects the water protection fees from these water users.  Public water suppliers are required to report retail sales directly to KDOR on a quarterly basis.

Water protection fees are a revenue source for the State Water Plan Fund.  Other revenue sources are state general fund transfers, economic development fund transfers, pesticide registration and fertilizer tonnage fees, pollution fines and penalties, clean water drinking fund fees, and sand royalty receipts.

As outlined in the Kansas Water Authority’s 2010 annual report , State Water Plan funds are used for a variety of purposes to develop and protect Kansas’ water resources, generally for the following services:

• Improving water quality
• Reducing soil erosion
• Constructing and rehabilitating reservoirs
• Conserving water supplies
• Monitoring compliance with interstate river compacts
• Managing streams and aquifers

The $200,000 reduction in water protection fees represents about 1 percent of the fiscal year 2011 State Water Plan budget.  While this is a small percentage of the total, it will mean delays in one or more important projects that make a noticeable difference at the local or regional level.

*Note: The figures in this article are subject to revision if more accurate data are received and do not include the unconsumed surface water diverted for once-through cooling at thermoelectric power plants.  Some 300,000 to 400,000 acre-feet of water is typically diverted each year for once-through cooling at thermoelectric power plants in Kansas, most of which is returned to the source.  State statute makes an exception for thermoelectric power plants that have surface water as their source.  The law requires that they pay the water protection fee only for the amount of water consumed.


Flex Account Sign-up Deadline Approaching
Water right holders who would like some leeway in how they use their water appropriation from year to year have until Oct. 10 to apply for a term permit that allows for more flexible water use over a five-year period that begins Jan. 1, 2011.

The multiyear flex account option is available only to vested and certified groundwater water right holders, and it is based on historical use rather than authorized quantities.

“This is one tool irrigators can use to deal with variations in precipitation from year to year,” said David Barfield, chief engineer of the Division of Water Resources.

Under the current flex account term permit, water users establish a five-year allotment based on an average of their actual use between 1992 and 2002, less a 10 percent conservation amount required by law and excluding any amount used in excess of the authorized quantity.     

Once a water user’s allotment is established, that base amount is drawn down each year by the amount of water that is used.  Water use in any one year may exceed a water right holder’s annual authorized quantity, as long as overall use for the five-year period does not exceed the total allotment.  Also, flex account use must not impair water use by others.  

Staff in the Division of Water Resources field offices are prepared to answer questions about flex accounts and to help water users complete the forms needed to establish them.  Those offices are in Garden City (620) 276-2901; Parsons (620) 421-2697; Stafford (620) 234-5311; Stockton (785) 425-6787; and Topeka (785) 862-6300.

Applications received after Oct. 10 will be accepted, but flex accounts for those individuals will not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2012.


Case Files: End Guns Trigger Complaints and Violations
One of the most common infractions of Kansas water laws is water waste that occurs when end guns on center pivot irrigation systems spray water onto roads.  This can also impact traffic safety and create road maintenance problems.

Recently, staff in DWR’s Stafford field office responded to a complaint involving a motor vehicle accident caused by end gun spray onto a county road in Edwards County.  A young farm-permit driver lost control of his vehicle in the slickened soil and rolled it off the road.  Fortunately, the young man was not seriously injured.

Groundwater management districts usually investigate end gun complaints in their boundaries, but in this case DWR staff handled it as they were already in the area responding to a separate complaint.  When staff arrived at this site, they observed that the road had been wetted by two separate irrigation systems operating in adjacent fields.  The accident had already been cleared away.

Right top: A recent incident involving end gun spray onto a county road in Edwards County.

Right bottom: End gun spray onto the same county road, a short distance away, by a neighboring irrigation system.  Photos by DWR staff.  Click to enlarge images.

Upon returning to the office, staff mailed warning letters to each of the irrigation water right owners in question.  The warnings informed the owners that their end gun spray onto the road constitutes a waste of water, which is unlawful under the Kansas Water Appropriation Act and is punishable by fines or other civil penalties.

In addition, staff informed the owners that sprinkling irrigation water onto the county road is also a violation under the Roads and Bridges Law, K.S.A. 68-184, which declares such road wetting a public nuisance from which injunctive relief may be sought from a county attorney or district attorney.  Staff copied the Edwards County attorney on the letters of warning.

DWR staff follow-up included talking with the owners by telephone. They will inspect the location at a later date to determine whether the end gun problems are properly resolved.  If not, DWR may take further enforcement action.

These infractions come at a time when Big Bend Groundwater Management District No. 5 is initiating a program to remove end guns within the Rattlesnake Creek subbasin , which includes the location referenced in this article.  As reported in the July 13, 2010 DWR Currents, GMD 5 was awarded up to $572,844 in 2010 for this purpose through an Agricultural Water Enhancement Program ( AWEP) grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

GMD 5’s AWEP proposal noted that end guns are the least efficient component in center pivot irrigation systems.  Removing end guns in this subbasin is anticipated to reduce consumptive groundwater use and possibly improve streamflow in Rattlesnake Creek.


Upcoming Events

• August 10: GMD 2 Board Meeting (Halstead)
• August 11: Small Dam Owners Seminar (Westmoreland)
• August 11: GMD 3 Board Meeting (Garden City)
• August 11-12: Republican River Compact Annual Meeting (Burlington, Colorado)
• August 12: GMD 4 Board Meeting (Colby)
• August 12: GMD 5 Board Meeting (Stafford)
• August 17: GMD 1 Board Meeting (Scott City)
• August 25: Small Dam Owners Seminar (Eureka)

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