DWR Currents
March 2, 2011
Rules & Regs Committee Hears Proposed Changes to Close GMD 1 and Add Due Cause
Solicitor General Files Brief in Republican River Lawsuit
Legislative Update: 4 Water Resource Bills Pass Chamber of Origin, 10 Others Still Live
Kansas Crop Values Grew 20 Percent from 2009 to 2010
Corps Assesses Safety of Their Dams
Upcoming Events
Rules & Regs Committee Hears Proposed Changes to Close GMD 1 and Add Due Cause
Chief Engineer David Barfield addressed the Kansas Legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations in their March 1 hearing on proposed amendments to two rules:
- Amendments to K.A.R. 5-21-4 would close Western Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 1 to new appropriations of water in the portions of the unconsolidated aquifers commonly known as the Ogallala formation and the Niobrara formation that are located within the district.
- Amendment to K.A.R. 5-7-1 would add a due and sufficient cause for non-use under a water right if water use is temporarily discontinued because a contract between the water right owner (producer) and a groundwater management district exists committing the producer to forego use of water authorized by a water right for a definite five to ten-year period to conserve water. The non-use contract will provide additional ranking consideration for eligibility for the federal Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP).
Right: A map of the groundwater management districts in Kansas. GMD 1 is in west-central Kansas, colored green in this graphic. Click to enlarge image.
Regarding the proposed closure of the Ogallala and Niobrara formations in GMD 1, Barfield explained the difference between closure by rules or order of the chief engineer versus “effectively closed” by safe yield analysis. An area is effectively closed by safe yield if the authorized quantities of existing water rights within a 2-mile radius circle equal or exceed the recharge from precipitation.
Closing the district by rule better protects existing water rights from possible impacts as there may be isolated pockets where a safe yield analysis shows a new appropriation could be granted. Several federal and state incentive-based programs to encourage water conservation require a closure by rule. Thus, the district’s closure may help the district and water right owners become eligible for these programs. The closure by rule would also protect water rights from abandonment under a recently added due and sufficient cause for nonuse in closed areas.
The closure does not preclude new domestic, temporary, and term permits to be granted. And it does not prohibit changes in existing water rights, so economic growth can continue as it has in other parts of the state that have been closed to new water appropriations
for prudent stewardship of limited groundwater resources.
Regarding the proposed new due and sufficient cause for nonuse of a water right, Barfield explained the eleven due and sufficient causes already in regulation to cover a variety of circumstances such as when water is not available for diversion, when a water right is enrolled in a water conservation program, or other circumstances that prevented the lawful use of water.
The proposed new due and sufficient cause is driven by the loss of the Water Rights Conservation Program, which was discontinued in December 2009 due to budget cuts. Irrigators had been able to use WRCP enrollment to increase their eligibility for the federal EQIP water conservation incentive payment program. Without WRCP, enrollment in EQIP is less viable for them, hence the proposed regulation to provide a substitute method for improving enrollment in EQIP.
Barfield noted that there is proposed legislation, 
Senate Bill 191, to revive WRCP, and if this happens the alternative proposed in K.A.R. 5-7-1 may not be needed.
During the hearing the committee did not express any comments or concerns about the proposed regulatory amendments. The committee will issue a letter to formally identify any comments or concerns.
Barfield will conduct a public hearing regarding these proposed regulatory amendments on March 16, 2011 at the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s office in Topeka.
Full hearing notices, full texts of the proposed regulations, summaries, economic impact statements and online comment submission forms can be found at the above regulation links.
Solicitor General Files Brief in Republican River Lawsuit
On Feb. 28, the U.S. Department of Justice, Solicitor General’s office submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court expressing the views of the United States regarding Kansas’ May 3, 2010 filing against Nebraska. The Court invited the Solicitor General’s brief as part of its deliberations on whether or not to take Kansas’ case.
The Solicitor General’s brief argues in favor of the Court taking the case. The following summary is excerpted from the brief, which is posted on DWR’s Republican River Compact webpage:
This brief is filed in response to the order of this Court inviting the Acting Solicitor General to express the views of the United States. In the view of the United States, Kansas’s motion for leave to file a petition should be granted. Nebraska should be invited to file a motion to dismiss to clarify what remedies are available to Kansas for Nebraska’s alleged violation of the Compact. Nebraska should also be provided an opportunity to file a motion to assert its own claims against Kansas.
Legislative Update: 4 Water Resource Bills Pass Chamber of Origin, 10 Others Still Live
So far this Legislative session four water resources bills have passed out of their chamber of origin including proposed legislation to facilitate conservation project easements in navigable rivers, establish an access district for releases of stored water from Kanopolis Reservoir, repeal expired commissions, and to make it easier to enroll in the multi-year flex account program.
Each of these bills has been introduced in the opposite chamber for possible action.
Ten other water resources bills are still alive – that is, they could still be acted on in their chamber of origin – either because the bills were “blessed” (made exempt from the Feb. 25 “turnaround” deadline) or because other procedural approaches could be used such as inserting language from a seemingly dead bill into a live bill. Among these bills is proposed legislation to re-establish the Water Rights Conservation Program.
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.
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Kansas Crop Values Grew 20 Percent from 2009 to 2010
A recent Crop Values publication by Kansas Agricultural Statistics indicates the total value of Kansas crop production in 2010 was $8.2 billion, up 20 percent from 2009. Statistics noted that average prices for all major Kansas crops were higher in 2010.
Mike Meyer, water commissioner of DWR’s Garden City field office, noted that there’s been a high volume of applications to change irrigation rights to overlap acres served by different wells. “This seems to be driven by the higher crop prices.”
Right, upper: This graph shows the change in total values for Kansas’ major crops from 2009 to 2010. The largest increase was in the value of corn, growing nearly $1 billion. Source: Kansas Agricultural Statistics. Click to enlarge image.
Right, lower: This graph shows the trend in Kansas’ total crop production value closely followed the national trend. Source: Kansas Agricultural Statistics. Click to enlarge image.
DWR is currently receiving and processing 2010 water use reports, which were due March 1, so it’s too early to determine what effect the higher crop values may have had on water resources. However, preliminary information from the annual measurements of monitoring wells in the Ogallala aquifer indicates large declines from 2009 water levels, suggesting higher quantities of water use for irrigation in 2010.
“Quite a few people are contacting us about the status of water rights on land coming up for sale,” said Scott Ross, water commissioner of DWR’s Stockton field office.
Kansas Geological Survey is expected to announce the results of the well measurements later this month. DWR expects to have the 2010 water use data processed and checked later this spring.
Corps Assesses Safety of Their Dams
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District recently informed us that as part of a national initiative they completed risk assessments of nine dams at major reservoirs in Kansas. They used a new “screening portfolio risk analysis” with five Dam Safety Action Classifications (DSAC) in which the highest risk dams are assigned DSAC I, “urgent and compelling (unsafe),” and the lowest risk dams are assigned DSAC V “normal (adequately safe).”
Right: Dam safety action classification system being used by the Corps to rate and prioritize risk reduction measures at dams. Courtesy of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Click to enlarge image.
Seven of the dams they evaluated in Kansas – Clinton, Hillsdale, Kanopolis, Melvern, Milford, Perry, and Tuttle Creek – were assigned DSAC IV, “inadequate with low risk (marginally safe).” According to the Corps, no interim risk reduction measures are required for these dams.
Two of the dams the Corps evaluated in Kansas – Pomona and Wilson – were assigned DSAC III, “significantly inadequate to moderately high risk (conditionally unsafe).” The Corps will implement interim risk reduction measures for these dams including monitoring seepage and updating dam surveillance and emergency response plans. They will also meet with state and local authorities to discuss emergency action plans for these dams.
Under Kansas law, the chief engineer of DWR is responsible for supervising “the construction, modification, operation and maintenance of dams or other water obstructions for the protection of life and property.” However, the chief engineer’s jurisdiction under this law is limited to non-federal projects. Hence, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation are responsible for the safety of federal dams in Kansas.
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)
- Mar. 15: GMD 1 Board Meeting (Scott City)
- Mar. 15: GMD 1 Annual Meeting (Scott City)
- Mar. 16: Public Hearing (Topeka) on proposed rule changes to close GMD 1 and add a due and sufficient cause for nonuse of water
For more information about these and other upcoming events, please check our online events listings.
