News Release

November 5, 2009

Contact:
Chelsea Good
Communications Director
Kansas Department of Agriculture
(785) 296-2653 phone
(913) 735-9065 cell
Chelsea.Good@kda.ks.gov

Current status of southeast Kansas aquifers topic of November 9 informational meeting

TOPEKA—Results of several years’ study of the Ozark and Springfield Plateau aquifers will be discussed at an informational meeting on Monday, Nov. 9, in Columbus.

The meeting will be from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the ground floor conference room of the Cherokee County Courthouse at 110 West Maple.  

David Barfield, chief engineer of the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s division of water resources will lead the meeting, which will include a discussion of a water quantity model developed by the U.S. Geological Survey to assess the status of available groundwater resources in southeast Kansas.

“My plan is to explain, in simple terms, what the model shows us about the groundwater resources in the area and what that means for the region as far as its future water supply, its use and its management,” said Barfield.  “I also plan to talk about next steps; what we need to do with the information now that we have it.”

The USGS model was developed after a 2004 regulation established a moratorium to prohibit, with a few very specific exceptions, new water rights from tapping the Ozark aquifer.  The regulation also required that water quantity and water quality studies of the Ozark and Springfield Plateau aquifers by complete by the end of calendar year 2010, and that the chief engineer address the aquifers’ future management in light of model findings.  

The Nov. 9 meeting will include an overview of the Kansas Water Appropriation Act, how the Ozark and Springfield Plateau aquifers are currently managed, a review of existing reports and data, and an explanation of the USGS model.  There also will be time to discuss the aquifers’ management, and questions are strongly encouraged.    

A second informational meeting to be scheduled in December will continue discussions on these topics and add a focus on water quality studies by the Kansas Geological Survey and the United States Geological Survey.

The Neosho River Basin Advisory Committee, whose members are water right holders in the affected area, plans to develop a subcommittee to attend the informational meetings and to make recommendations to the chief engineer on the aquifers’ future management.