Kansas

Maps to help guide actions to conserve and extend the life of the Ogallala-High Plains aquifer will be the subject of public hearings scheduled in conjunction with the meetings of the five western Kansas Basin Advisory Committees (BACs) to be held from July 26 to 28. Each 11-member Basin Advisory Committee provides advice to the Kansas Water Authority on water resource issues.

"We want to make the maps reflect current priorities and emphases as progress is made. Placing the management maps in a flexible location makes them readily available rather than in the "Kansas Water Plan," which requires a formal process to change," says Susan Stover, Kansas Water Office basin planner. "The hearings are about a procedural change."

Any changes to the "Kansas Water Plan," including updating maps, requires a formal public hearing. By placing the maps on the river basins' bulletin board, or "Current Activities" report, instead of the "Kansas Water Plan," they can be updated to reflect management progress.

The BAC meeting times, dates and locations are:

Upper Arkansas BAC, 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 26, King Center, Jetmore

Cimarron BAC, 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 26, Strauth Museum, 111 N. Aztec, Montezuma

Smoky Hill-Saline BAC, 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 27 at the Sternberg Museum, 3000 Sternberg Drive, Hays

Solomon BAC, 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 27, Rooks County Health Department, 426 Main St., Stockton

Upper Republican BAC, 10 a.m. Thursday, July 28, Norton Library, 1 Washington Square, Norton.

Water table decline information and saturated thickness maps, now included in the basin issues sections, help to define the aquifer subunits, the basis for management of the region's groundwater by the region's Groundwater Management Districts and the Kansas Department of Agriculture's Division of Water Resources. Once aquifer subunits are established by each Groundwater Management District, they are prioritized after input from the public. Once approved, the aquifer subunit map will replace the current targeting map in the activity reports.

"It's about efficiency and openness in communication so that everyone is aware of what's being done to conserve and extend the life of the Ogallala-High Plains aquifer," says Stover, who works with the Cimarron and Upper Arkansas BACs. Her counterpart, Diane Coe, serves the Upper Republican, Smoky Hill-Saline and Solomon BACs.

Public hearings and the quarterly basin advisory committee meetings are just two of the ways that the State of Kansas gains knowledge and opinions on water issues. A study is under way to determine how best to involve the public in water resource planning and project implementation. Results to date will be discussed at the BAC meetings.

Also on all of the agendas will be a preview of a Kansas Water Authority authorized study of the best ways to promote and manage development on federal reservoir lands and adjacent private land. The study identifies various policy options related to enhancing the reservoirs' appeal for residential, resort and recreational development. It also details some new initiatives that could be undertaken to increase the attractiveness of the reservoirs for development.

At the Upper Arkansas Basin Advisory Committee meeting, a second public hearing topic relates to water quality of the Arkansas River (sulfate contamination and a proposed increase in storage of water in Colorado's Turquoise and Pueblo reservoirs) and the effect of invasive trees (salt cedar) on the channel capacity of the Arkansas River.

For more information or for special accommodations at the public hearings or basin advisory committee meetings, contact the Kansas Water Office at 888-KAN-WATER. (526-9283) or 785-296-3185. An agenda for each of the meetings, including the public hearing topics, is posted on the Water Office Website, www.kwo.org.

Date: 7/21/05