Ogallala Aquifer Advisory Committee Meeting 1

Well, the 21 member OAAC met earlier today in Dodge City, Kansas.  It was an impressive beginning with 19 of the 21 appointed members in attendance - along with 4 Kansas Legislators, 2 state agency directors, 4 groundwater management district managers and about a dozen other, interested folks.  The agenda was true to form with the two potential statutory changes getting discussed:  a) IGUCAs; and b) "use it or lose it" (water right abandonments).

The water right abandonments issue took most of the time as it was clearly the more complex and far-reaching issue. In the end, the committee passed a motion that the current statute KSA 82a-718 (d) be amended such that the requirement of maintaining the diversion works for non-used water rights in closed areas of the state be eliminated.  Basically, this means that in closed areas of the state non-use of a water right is lawfully due and sufficient cause for non-use - period.  This was done even though everyone understood that it completely eliminated any ability of the state to abandon a water right and forfeit it it back to the public domain.  Said another way, the only possibility of any water right abandonment in closed areas of the state would be through voluntary abandonment by the water right owner.  The motion passed 16 for and three against.  It was also agreed that considering additional GMD authority to address this issue through their management programs should be re-discussed at a later time.

The IGUCA issue was in concept a law change allowing a GMD to submit a complete enhanced management proposal to the chief engineer simultaneously with its IGUCA request.  Under these circumstances, the substantive public hearing required by current law would be limited to the GMD/local proposal.  Following the hearing, the chief engineer would have only one of 3 options:  a)  approve the proposal in its entirety and generate the IGUCA order; b) close the hearing and reject the proposal;  or c) continue the hearing and return the proposal to the GMD/locals for corrections with cites for every instance where it is not consistent with state law or the GMD management program, or, falls short of the requirements of a minimal management proposal.  Following discussion, and questions, a motion was unanimously passed to support this statutory change as presented, with a suggestion that some time constraints be considered for the chief engineer's post-hearing decision.

[UPDATE:  The above IGUCA discussion eventually became the Local Enhanced Management Area (LEMA) concept.  This was very early discussion before the concept even had a name.] 

Discussion next turned to possible issues for the next meeting.  One of the issues suggested was the prior appropriation system of water rights itself - the most fundamental concept of Kansas water law.  As noted before in this blog, I never heard this mentioned at the Governor's Summit, but because the state characterized several comments into the common topic of:  "Examine all water laws and regulations", this  and any other law or regulation now seems to be fair game.  Was this idea really sported at the Summit, or did the state take too liberal poetic license with the process?

Anyway, the next meeting is set for August 23 - most likely in Scott City.  The Farm Bill implications to, and potentials for water conservation in Kansas will be one of the agenda items - in preparation for Senator Pat Roberts' field hearing on the 2012 Farm Bill in Wichita, KS on August 25.  More later.

Governor's Water Summit - Post Activity

As already reported, Kansas Governor Brownback's water summit was held July 21, 2011 in Colby.  It was attended by 400 or so folks from across Kansas and even a smattering of people from our neighboring states.  There were no shortage of ideas provided by those involved.  As I said before, the complete list of ideas is supposed to be published on the Kansas Water Office website, but it's not been posted as of this writing, so I'll point you again to the preliminary capture of ideas which are here.  Suffice it to say that I have one issue with this capture which has been brought to the attention of the KWO.  I'll be interested in seeing if it is addressed in the final posting. (More about this below)

Anyway, all the ideas will be handed off to a 21-member select committee that was just recently appointed by the chairperson of the Kansas Water Authority.  This committee is made up entirely of western Kansas stakeholders and contains no water professionals (water agency types - either federal, state or local).  They will meet for the first time August 9 in Dodge City and will open with two issues:  What should be done with the Kansas abandonment statutes to foster better conservation?; and Should the intensive groundwater use control area laws be amended to foster more local use?

While I still have mixed feelings on the abandonment statutes (previous post here), it is the IGUCA laws that I am excited about.  I think there can be small changes made to the existing laws that will get the local folks far more interested in using this approach for new enhanced management approaches.  This alone was well worth the effort to me.  But it remains to be seen what other issues will follow these two as this process plays out.  My issue with the process (mentioned earlier in this post) has to deal with the state's broadening of the comments made during the summit.  While individuals did suggest law changes or retention for the abandonment, IGUCA, personal property rights and water use flexibility portions of the statutes, I heard no one suggest that every law and regulation needs a serious review and reconsideration - which is what became characterized by the KWO and is currently posted on the web page as public comment number 2.  Maybe someone said it in one of the breakout sessions, but I didn't hear it.

Of course, if this comment prevails, every aspect of the Kansas water appropriation act now becomes open for change - including the very most fundamental aspect of the entire system - the prior appropriation system.  This could get real serious in a hurry.  Anyway, all in all I think some positive things will have a chance to come out of this effort in a fairly short period of time.  Let's cross our fingers.

UPDATE - (August 5, 2011):  The full slate of public comments are now posted on the Kansas Water Office website.  There are 3 links under the heading:  Stakeholder Input from Summit Small Group Sessions. 

Governor's Water Summit - Colby, KS

Kansas Governor Brownback spent most of the day today in Colby listening to 350 or so Kansas water users discuss and offer ideas about the state's most prolific aquifer - the Ogallala.  The questions were:  What do you think the future of the Ogallala is?  What roles should individuals play?  and How can Governor Brownback's administration help achieve whatever goals are desired?

After three framing talks - on the current hydrologic status of the Ogallala (by Kansas Geological Survey); an economic perspective (by Kansas State University); and aspects of a common-pool resource (by Kansas State University) - a roundtable of 14 invited persons representing a wide variety of water users across the state introduced themselves and briefly gave their suggestions on Ogallala concerns from their perspectives.

The next session was breakout discussion groups of about 25 persons each who were asked to answer the original summit questions.  Moderators captured the ideas and comments without attribution, which were then individually voted upon - the highest counted ideas going forward.

From my discussions with many participants throughout the day, I'd say several ideas were universal enough that I'd guess they will be likely survivors.  These were (in no particular order):  1)  Local participation and involvement was critical; 2) one approach/regulation/solution does not fit all - wide variability of situations will require a wide variety of approaches; 3) the state's current policy of "use it or lose it" should be eliminated as a disincentive to water conservation; 4) ways must be found to grow the ag economy while simultaneously reducing water use; 5) federal farm programs and other federal efforts need tweaking to accommodate Kansas' specific economic needs; 6) a more user-friendly intensive groundwater use control area (IGUCA) process would be beneficial to fostering more use of this potentially valuable tool; 7)  value-added ag activity is beneficial; 8) water quality is equally important to water quantity; and 9) more flexibility in use of water (specifically in irrigated ag and municipal use) can help conserve water.

In any event, all the discussion points and final ideas will be posted on the Kansas Water Office website.  It is important to know that these ideas are just the beginning of these discussions.  They, and any new ones provided will be considered by the newly appointed Ogallala Aquifer Advisory Committee (OAAC) under the Kansas Water Authority.  This committee and it's work will also be posted on the KWO webpage.  All in all, I was pleased with the effort and am thinking at this time that some positive things are likely to come out of the effort.

Closing comments:  I'm still not convinced that the "use it or lose it" is as big a disincentive to water conservation as this very large group seemed to express, but there will be time to address it.  This issue is simply broader than characterized in this 1/2 day session and is worthy of additional discussion.  I was also surprised at the number of non-Kansas folks in attendance - a smattering of folks from Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas that I personally know and saw - and there most likely were more.  I felt that the roundtable participants used far too much time in their self-introductions - time that could have been used in the breakout sessions that were rushed - at least ours was.  Other than that I was pleased with the event and very appreciative of the Governor's time in beginning these important discussions.  There will be more later...

Governor's Water Summit

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback will convene a Water Summit with support from Ag Secretary Dale Rodman and the Kansas Water Office in Colby - Thursday, July 21, 2011. The venue will be:  Cultural Arts
Center, Colby Community College, starting at 10:00 A.M. (Registration begins at 9:30 A.M.) The public is invited, but you need to pre-register with the KS Water Office by July 15 if you intend to eat lunch (sponsored) with the group.  Call the KWO at 785-296-3185 or go to their web site (http://www.kwo.org/) to pre-register. The full agenda is also available from the website.  The session will end at 3:30 P.M.

Discussion issues are expected to include:  water conservation;  perceptions of the state’s “use it or lose it” policy;  how do water users generate more economy while reducing (conserving) water use;  and making the IGUCA statutes more effective.  After two framing talks, small discussion groups will be formed and will work until lunch.  The Round Table discussion will then ensue, followed by a Summary and Action Planning session.  This will be a good chance to tell the state (actually, the Governor of the state) what you think about groundwater issues near and dear to your heart.  This district hopes that local control is one of your concerns and that you get a chance to express this.

The results of the discussions and ideas generated will be handed off to a new, ad hoc committee just forming under the Kansas Water Authority.  They are to distill all the discussion and recommend a new roadmap for the High Plains Aquifer in Kansas - what new Legislation may be necessary; funding recommendations; etc., etc.  This could be a good thing for the fully engaged, local GMDs, or...

And the jury is still out on whether or not this summit is a true "fact-finding" and "issue-recognition" session, or, if the Governor has an agenda he is really interested in and just has to hear the public comment before beginning.  I'm not in either camp yet, but sure would like to believe the former - at least the majority of my discussions with organizers and those more closely involved seem to be convinced that way.  Regardless, I'm confident that the really good ideas will survive either approach.  We're appreciative of the Governor's interest in western Kansas water and the time and effort he has put into coming out for the day to talk about what's extremely important to us.

Kansas Governor To Conduct Water Summit

It's now official.  Governor Brownback with support from Agriculture Secretary Rodman and the Kansas Water Office are co-sponsoring a Water Summit here in Colby, KS on July 21, 2011.  The venue will be the Colby Community College Cultural Arts Center.  The focus will be groundwater in the High Plains Aquifer (Ogallala) - with forays into at least conservation, use-it-or-lose-it, and economic advances in water use.  The final issue agenda has not been set yet, so other topics are likely to be served up as well.  Stay tuned.

The summit will start at 9:30 10:00 A.M. and will conclude at 12 noon 3:30 P.M. with a lunch being provided.  The session will be looking for all ideas regarding the advancement of conservation and economic growth from water uses - hopefully simultaneously.  I am pleased to report that the summit organizers appear to be genuinely seeking ideas, and not just using this venue to showcase their ideas of where the state should be heading.

I'll pick up this topic again following the summit with all the closing remarks I feel need to be expressed.  Perhaps we can continue the dialog a bit right here for those interested.

(Summit times were updated June 14, 2011 at 7:08 P.M. - WAB)