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‘There’s still hope’: Kansas House advances bills to help save Ogallala Aquifer
TOPEKA — House members celebrated a “historic” effort to address the state’s looming water crisis by advancing a pair of bills that would earmark funding for water-related projects and hold Groundwater Management Districts accountable for conservation efforts. The chamber gave first-round approval to House Bill 2279, which deals with the GMDs, and House Bill 2302, […]
Kansas House committee advances bills to conserve water in Ogallala Aquifer
Members of a Kansas House committee on Thursday passed legislation meant to push officials in western Kansas to come up with ideas to conserve water in the disappearing Ogallala Aquifer. The legislation — along with a bill dedicating sales tax revenue to fund water projects — passed the House Water Committee on a voice vote with […]
House bill calls for western Kansas to create plans to save the Ogallala Aquifer
TOPEKA — For half a century, groundwater managers in western Kansas have been charged with slowing the decline of the Ogallala Aquifer. Fifty years later, parts of the aquifer are nearing crisis, and legislators want action. “We’re here today so that we don’t become what the Colorado River Valley or Central California looks like,” said […]
Kansas legislators renew efforts to save Ogallala Aquifer
TOPEKA — Saving the Ogallala Aquifer could mean economic trade-offs in the short-term, the chairman of the Kansas House Water Committee said Tuesday. But the state can make progress and still maintain the farming economy of western Kansas, said Rep. Jim Minnix, R-Scott City. “If I were a banker … looking at the value of […]
‘It’s time to deal with this’: Kansas Water Authority wants to save Ogallala Aquifer
COLBY — Kansas should scrap its de facto policy of draining the Ogallala Aquifer, a state board decided Wednesday. Instead, the board said, the Kansas government should take steps to stop the decline of the aquifer and save it for future generations. “It has taken decades for this to be said formally in writing by […]
Western Kansas’ economy threatened by reliance on irrigating crops with Ogallala Aquifer
Kansas officials point to threat of excessive irrigation of crops from Ogallala Aquifer and nitrate infestation, sedimentation of reservoir surface water.
Conservation project aims to restore Ogallala Aquifer through naturally occurring landforms
The future of water availability in western Kansas is receiving support from a multimillion-dollar project aimed at using existing land formations to recharge a major underground water source. Final details of the Groundwater Recharge and Sustainability Project, or GRASP, are being worked out within the offices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation […]
Kansas legislation got ‘watered down’ but will help aquifer conservation efforts
Kansas state representatives this spring voted for “historic” legislation spending more than $50 million a year on preserving groundwater and restoring the state’s reservoirs. By the time the Senate finished with the bill, it was “watered down” but “a good start.” Rep. Lindsay Vaughn, D-Overland Park, said when lawmakers and farm and environmental groups come […]
Role of western Kansas mini-wetlands on farming, aquifer under a microscope
Research project puts western Kansas mini-wetlands under microscope to get understanding of influence on farming, aquifer.
Kansas farm irrigation still hinders Quivira National Wildlife Refuge water rights
TOPEKA — The Quivira National Wildlife Refuge received insufficient amounts of water in two out of every three years between 2008 and 2021, a report by Kansas regulators found. The report updates a more thorough analysis from 2016 that found farm irrigation upstream from Quivira was infringing on the refuge’s water rights. That followed a […]