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Voluntary Incentive Programs

Overview

Voluntary program for enrollment of irrigated acres for 14-15 year contracts
Enroll up to 20,000 acres into the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program in the project priority area -- 17,000 irrigated acres, 3,000 from dryland pivot corners as part of whole field enrollment -- with a goal of up to 18,600 acres put into native grass
Acres would be put into grass for period of contract
Periodic mowing and haying allowed for maintenance
Landowners receive an upfront signup incentive payment by State for each irrigated acre enrolled
Landowners receive annual irrigated rental and maintenance payments
50 percent cost sharing on seeding
Additional cost share on seeding provided by Pheasants Forever and local chapters will provide assistance in locating grass drills and loan of those drills, as available
Cost sharing on well plugging
Cost sharing on tamarisk control
Land can be leased for hunting during period of contract

Information

The majority of the contiguous application acres -- 51 percent or more -- must lie within the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program boundary
The irrigation water right must be in good standing with the State of Kansas
The water rights used on the application acreage shall not have exceeded the maximum annual quantity authorized in the years 2001 through 2005 and shall not have been the subject of enforcement sanctions by the division of water resources in the last four years
The water right holder has submitted the required annual water use report for each of the most recent ten years; and
At least 50 percent of the maximum annual quantity authorized to be diverted under the water right has been used in any three years from 2001 through 2005
Lands must not be enrolled in Conservation Reserve Program as of January 1, 2007
Acres must have been irrigated cropland with at least ½ acre foot/acre irrigation for at least four out of six years from 1996-2001
Water right associated with acres enrolled must be permanently dismissed
Limited irrigation permitted over 1-2 years to establish cover on soils unsuitable for dryland agriculture

Targeted Areas

Overview

Voluntary, incentive-based program
To improve the effectiveness of Environmental Quality Incentives Program Water Conservation funds, four Western Kansas Groundwater Management Districts and the Kansas Division of Water Resources identified areas of the High Plains Aquifer and hydraulically interconnected alluvial and surface waters. These areas have been designated as Quick Response Areas
Quick Response Areas were identified and are approved by the chief engineer of the Division of Water Resources, and the Director of the Kansas Water Office as important for reducing consumptive water use. Each Groundwater Management District and the Division of Water Resources defined Quick Response Areas based on various conditions identified within each district including aquifer conditions, withdrawal patterns and socio-economic considerations
The Natural Resources Conservation Service will provide Environmental Quality Incentives Program financial assistance for eligible applications located within Quick Response Areas that convert irrigated cropland to nonirrigated cropland or grassland.

Information

The Irrigation Quick Response Area Self-Assessment Worksheet for Fiscal Year 2009 should be completed and returned to the Natural Resources Conservation Service office by January 9, 2009. The Self-Assessment Worksheet is available from your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or on the Kansas Natural Resources Conservation Service website
Incentive payments are only eligible on land that has been irrigated at least two of the past five years
Applicant acreage benchmark water usage must meet or exceed the minimum use guideline of 66 percent. Water usage equals the average acres irrigated divided by acres authorized by permit. Of the years irrigated, the application acres must have been irrigated at an average rate of at least six acre-inches/acre/year
Incentive payments of $100 per acre annually for three years are authorized on eligible acres that convert irrigated land to nonirrigated land. Applicants may continue to produce crops under dryland rotations and conservation tillage practices, or the land may be seeded to perennial grasses
Financial assistance is available for grass seedings and water developments

Targeted Areas

Overview

Its purpose is to reduce the historic consumptive use of water in targeted high priority areas
The landowner permanently retires -- dismisses -- water rights in exchange for compensable payment by the State Conservation Commission
A fixed rate per acre-foot of historic consumptive water use is available for eligible water rights to be retired

Information

Water rights must be active "vested rights" or "certified appropriation" water rights that have been put to lawful beneficial use in at least six of the last ten calendar years
Applications proposing to retire water rights with high average historic consumptive water use values will receive high consideration for payment approval
Grants can be paid as multiple annual installments not to exceed ten years, or as a lump sum
Dryland farming is permitted after a right is retired
Eligible areas are determined by the chief engineer

Targeted Areas

Overview

The Central Kansas Water Bank is a groundwater bank located in South-Central Kansas in Barton, Edwards, Kiowa, Pawnee, Pratt, Reno, Rice and Stafford counties. The boundaries coincide with those of the Big Bend Groundwater Management District No. 5
Minimum of ten percent water savings in consumptive use on all deposit/lease transactions
Net consumptive use shall be calculated as 85 percent of the average water use for years 1987-1996
Both deposits and leases are subject to a conservation component
Water users who wish to sell -- deposit -- their water on an annual basis up to five years so others can lease it
Water rights on deposit in the bank constitutes due and sufficient cause for non-use
A person may lease water that has been deposited
Leases may be allowed up to the length of the bank charter -- seven years -- plus three years
Water must be leased and used in the same basin of the water deposited

Information

Each person proposing a deposit or lease must complete an application
Must sign up by December 31st of the preceding year in which the deposit will be made
A bulletin board is established to post deposits, leases and completed transactions
Safe Deposit Accounts allow water users to carryover a portion of unused water from one year to the next; at the end of each year, ten percent is reduced for conservation purposes
The initial water bank charter is valid for seven years. This is a trial period where the bank will be reviewed to determine whether or not the operation of the bank has resulted in a savings of water and has not created impairment of other water rights or caused unwanted area of increased depletion of the aquifer
Central Kansas Water Bank Association is a private, not-for-profit entity separate from the Big Bend Groundwater Management District No. 5

Targeted Areas

Kansas Department of Agriculture