DWR Currents

October 9, 2012

Republican River Compact Administration Meeting Scheduled on Oct. 16
DWR Completes Water Availability Study of Lower Arkansas River
Bailey Joins Floodplain Management Team
Calendar Items

Republican River Compact Administration Meeting Scheduled on Oct. 16
The Republican River Compact Administration (RRCA) will hold its 52nd annual meeting October 16 at 8 a.m. at the C.L. Hoover Opera House located at 135 West 7th Street in Junction City.

Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska entered into the Republican River Compact in 1943. The RRCA is comprised of three commissioners, including Kansas Division of Water Resources Chief Engineer David Barfield, Colorado State Engineer Dick Wolfe and Nebraska Director of the Division of Natural Resources Brian Dunnigan.

The compact was created to provide for the equitable division of the basin’s waters; remove causes of potential controversy; promote interstate cooperation; promote joint action by the states and the United States in the efficient use of water and the control of destructive floods; and provide for the most efficient use of waters in the Republican River basin.

The administration’s annual meeting focuses on water related issues and activities within the Republican River basin in Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas, including compact compliance.

The RRCA will hold a work session at the Geary County Health Department, located at 1212 West Ash Street, Junction City, at 1 p.m. on October 15.

Both meetings are open to the public.

Additional information about the Republican River Compact, including information about the October 16 meeting, are available on the DWR website or by e-mail to Scott.Ross@kda.ks.gov.


DWR Completes Water Availability Study of Lower Arkansas River
In 2004, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) completed a hydrologic model of portions of the Arkansas and Ninnescah River Valley alluviums from northern portions of Wichita to Arkansas City. The USGS model work provided data that was previously unavailable. The data could be used as the basis to refine the estimates of recharge used to guide the decision-making process for appropriating water in and near the model area.

With the publication of the USGS model report, DWR suspended processing applications for new appropriations of water in the model area and south to the Kansas-Oklahoma border that would not be approvable under current recharge estimates. Application processing was suspended until the model report could be fully reviewed and its results were incorporated into the appropriation process.

DWR recently completed its review of the USGS model report and has documented the observations and findings in a report, “Lower Arkansas-Ninnescah River Alluvial Groundwater Recharge for Safe Yield Determination,” by Samuel P. Perkins. The review is available on the DWR website.

In summary, DWR agreed with the USGS determination that the groundwater system in the model area is recharged at the rate of 5.4 inches per year from precipitation.  In keeping consistent with water appropriation policy and regulation across the state, DWR found that 75 percent of the precipitation recharge (about 4 inches) is available for appropriation and the remaining recharge is reserved for streamflow and other uses such as domestic use.

Now that these values have been established, DWR has resumed processing the applications that have been suspended since 2004 using the established two-mile circle method of determining safe yield that is described in K.A.R. 5-3-11(d)(1) and which is used to evaluate applications from most parts of the state.


Bailey Joins Floodplain Management Team
Dane Bailey described his position as floodplain hazard identification manager with the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources as a “perfect fit.”

“It’s great to get back into the rapidly-growing geospatial field and using ESRI programs for mapping,” Bailey said.

Bailey, originally from Oregon, Missouri, earned a bachelor's degree in geography in 2002 and a master's degree in geography with an emphasis in geomorphology from the University of Kansas. He worked five years at Western Air Maps Inc., a photogrammetric and geospatial mapping firm now owned by Wilson & Company, Inc., Engineers & Architects. As a cartographer, Bailey used MicroStation, a CAD software product for 2- and 3-dimensional design and drafting; SOCET SET, a digital mapping software application using numerous government and commercial image sources to create digital terrain and surface models, image maps, 3-D visualizations and GIS databases; and ArcGIS to produce topographic and engineering maps.

Before starting at DWR in June, Bailey spent more than five years at Terracon, located in Topeka, as an environmental science consultant working on groundwater contamination sources, wetlands mitigation and other projects. While working for Terracon, Bailey said one of his major clients was the Topeka Chamber of Commerce.

In his spare time, Bailey likes to sail at Lake Perry, golf and spend time with his ten-month-old son Hudson.

Calendar Items
Oct. 9: Equus Beds GMD No. 2 Board Meeting (Halstead)
Oct. 10: Southwest Kansas GMD No. 3 Board Meeting (Garden City)
Oct. 11: Big Bend GMD No. 5 Board Meeting (Stafford)
Oct. 16: Western Kansas GMD No. 1 Board Meeting (Scott City)
Oct. 30-31: Governor's Water Conference (Manhattan)
Nov. 8: Northwest Kansas GMD No. 4 Board Meeting (Colby)