Water Conservation is Critically Needed in Kansas to Protect the Future of our Wetlands and Rural Communities by Jackie Augustine, AOK Monthly Newsletter, July 1, 2024
Photo: Dry pool at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge by JK Augustine
AOK continues to participate in discussions with the Rattlesnake Creek Working Group. This group includes the Kansas Department of Agriculture's Division of Water Resources, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Kansas Corn, Kansas Livestock Association, The Nature Conservancy, Kansas Water Users Association, landowners, and others. We are all working to ensure there is enough water to meet the water rights of Quivira National Wildlife Refuge while minimizing the impact on agricultural users. Right now, landowners have the opportunity to sign up for voluntary water conservation agreements through a Compensated Allocation Management Program (CAMP) designed by the Central Kansas Water Bank as well as a Water Conservation Area (WCA) designed by several industry groups. If voluntary conservation is not sufficient to meet the water right of Quivira, the state may have to administer water rights.
The Kansas Rural Center offers this commentary on the issue:
"Continually kicking the can down the road in denying the challenges of excessive crop irrigation - around national treasures such as the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge - must be challenged. Kansas now has a significant ‘budget stabilization fund (rainy-day fund)’ of $1.7 billion that should be tapped to buy back certain water rights (with the professional assessment of the Kansas Geological Survey) and work with farmers on other cropping and grazing options to balance lost income."
Why now? The need is urgent! Prolonged and more frequent drought has exacerbated the problem of over-appropriation of water over the last 50 years resulting in reduced water levels at Quivira, creating fewer places for birds to refuel during migration, higher concentrations of birds in the remaining pools, and increased disease transmission among those birds. We are also seeing some irrigation and household wells run dry in the area. If we are to have healthy rural communities alongside healthy ecosystems, we need to prioritize sustainable water use NOW before more wells run dry.
Contact the Governor's Office, thanking them for their work thus far in the Kansas Department of Agriculture's Division of Water Resources, and encourage them to find a solution that will work for Quivira in the long term (such as permanent water rights buy- backs, not just 5 or 10-year lease programs).
Read More About Kansas Legislative Policy Concerning Water from the Kansas Rural Center