Municipal Water Savings in Kansas

One of the very positive things done in Kansas is the state's effort to reduce and/or eliminate unaccounted for water use in our municipal and rural water district systems.  How do they do it?

It all begins with the state water plan and the overall goals expressed in this document for municipal water use.  According to the Water Conservation Section of the Plan (Volume I), the goal is expressed simply as follows:  "Reduce the number of public water suppliers with excessive “unaccounted for” water by first targeting those with 30 percent or more “unaccounted for” water."

The primary way this is done is via a contract between the Kansas Water Office (KWO) and the Kansas Rural Water Association (KRWA).  Basically the KRWA does water audits for cities and rural water districts in seeking leaks, meter discrepancies, unaccounted for water usage, and other supply problems.  The latest FY 2012 annual report is available (here) and contains the actual contract agreements and much more information about the arrangement. 

Last fiscal year (July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012) the KRWA worked 128 water loss surveys and detected 653 GPM of leaks.  This leak rate had lost 343,216,800 gallons of fresh water in the year before they were detected.  All this water saved for a mere $325,000.   

This contract has been in place since FY 1992, so over the past 21 years, a total 1,222 surveys have been completed, finding 9,211 GPM of leaks and water losses, equating to 4.841 Billion gallons of water waste eliminated.

Of course, it's a never ending fight.  Just because a 45 GPM leak is found and fixed in City A, doesn't mean a new leak won't manifest itself next year in the same city.  But the experience gained over the past 21 years and passed along to the municipal water suppliers of the state will surely keep them more vigilant and on the look-out for future leaks - which, by the way, are revenue robbers.  Those 9,211 GPM of leaks found over the past 21 years has taken over $10,694,000.00 of revenue from those cities.  And that cost doesn't even include the cost to the cities to pump, treat and deliver those leaking supplies.  I think it's a pretty good set-up.  

Cave Rock, Water Babies and the Washoe People

Cave Rock sits at the very edge of Lake Tahoe along its East side about 1/3 the way up from the southern tip of the lake.  It is a sacred place to the Washoe people and happens to be the place where the legendary Water Babies live.  In Washoe stories, the Water Babies actually live in all bodies of water, but apparently Cave Rock is their most frequented hangout.  They are very powerful and at times cause illness or even death to people, but can also be positive omens if you approach them carefully and treat them with respect.  It is mostly just the Washoe healers that interact with the Water Babies, though, as most people avoid them by choice.  This is why Cave Rock is always given a wide berth by most of Washoe people as they pass by.

And then there is Ong... The giant man-eating bird who nests in the middle of Lake Tahoe.   He's so strong and powerful that his wings bend the trees along the shore when he flies by.  Actually, legend has it that Ong was killed by a clever Washoe man just before being eaten, but his nest still remains just out of sight below the water surface.

These tales remind me of the Kelpies of England and Scandinavia - you know, those Water Horses with nefarious qualities?  I've blogged about them earlier (Kelpie Blog post link).  There 's no tellin' what'd happen if a Water Baby would jump on a Kelpie and the both of them chance upon Ong, but my thoughts are this is how the Artesians came to be.  Could be wrong, tho...

Finally, on the other side of Nevada (just into Utah) are where the Goshute People reside.  They don't speak of Water Babies, but to them water is just as powerful.  In their language "water" is referred to as a human being - a living entity.  It is described as such because the spirits of all their ancestors live in water.  What a great concept, and once again we see how important water is to humans throughout history. Today's mankind should treat it with more respect - if for no other reason than it contains Water Babies, Kelpies, sacred ancestors, and possibly....even Artesians.

Old Picture of the Day

Source:  Old Picture of the Day Blog, by permission

I ran across a blog called Old Picture of the Day where the owner, known only as PJM, posts an old photograph nearly every day.  It's not a water blog, per se, but you'll see the connection in just a few more sentences.

His posts are eclectic to say the least, but he's been getting into a rhythm of late by keeping the pictures themed for several days in a row to perhaps a week.  He's even known to prod his followers into a game every now and then called "Mystery Person" where you must guess the person in the photo.  I assure you, these contests are not for the casual player, as they are pretty difficult and almost always require some internet sleuthing - at least they always would for me.

Anyway, I was intrigued by the section he has posted on Windmills (in the June, 2010 archive section).  And I've also run across several well drilling operations of yore, hand pumped wells and dam building photos.  I've probably not seen all his windmill, well drilling and related groundwater and water photos.  If you spend some time in his blog you can probably find quite a few more.  But what you'll see there while looking will keep you utterly amazed anyway, so it really doesn't matter if you find water pics or not.  I'm not kidding, the range of photo subjects is pretty amazing - I defy you NOT to be impressed.

Anyway, if you like old photos, this is the place to be.  I'll continue to stop in now and then looking for the groundwater pics and much, much more.  Maybe even someday I'll happen to know who the Mystery Person is!  HA!  (Don't worry PJM, about the only way that is going to happen is if you manage somehow to post a picture of a former chief engineer from the great state of Kansas!) 

Anyway, thanks to PJM for permission to use the above windmill picture and congratulations on a truly enjoyable blog site.  BTW, the above picture is listed as being from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition - a part of the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904.  Bet you didn't know that!

Water and Conflict

I was reading a recent editorial account of the unforgivable murder of 52 women and children in Kenya over access to water from the Tana River.  The essence of the problem is not at all supply related as most would first suspect - there is water enough for all in the Tana - but that one groups' cattle must traverse another groups' crop lands in order to access that supply.

It's hard to imagine in these day and times, but water seems to be that lightning rod issue that can make grown men insane.  It's especially hard to fathom when the solutions seem so easy - either dedicated and fenced cattle access lanes, or piped water to specified cattle watering areas.  Either of these solutions I think all would agree would have been preferable to the conflict that occurred.  I hope this travesty at the very least results in a workable solution in this rural area where some claim that government has been too slow to respond with too few funds.

It reminded me of several items I've run across of late.  The first is a water conflict site at the Pacific Institute.  If you're interested in water conflicts, this chronology is a wealth of information on documented and referenced water conflicts throughout the world and throughout recorded history.  The site is: Pacific Institute Water Conflict Chronology.  You will note that it goes through 2010, so does not yet include the above incident.

The other item is a more recent State Department Report (reported on in our May/June, 2012 GMD4 Newsletter edition) on the probability of water conflicts in the near future.  There are many high level folks who are getting more worried each year over the possibilities.  

In digesting all this, you will likely find that while water makes some men insane, it makes others remarkably ingenious.  Of course, there always has been a fine line between genius and insanity.  And who among us believes that all the water conflicts have already taken place?  If thirsty monkeys can sacrifice 8 of their own and injure 10 people in a confrontation over delivered water supplies (see number 164 on the list of 225), and 52 people can be killed over the mere access to adequate water, I shudder to think what else is possible as we move into a future with less and less of this vital resource.

Let's hope a constant reminder - represented by the water conflict chronology and all the state department reports - will help us all understand that history is never kind to conflicts of any nature, and to act accordingly.

September 26, 2012 UPDATE:  As often happens, the first reports are the least accurate.  Here is another, later article,  that covers the same incident, and then subsequent clashes.  Unlike the article I cited in my coverage on September 3 (very first link at top), this article cites that lack of water supply is equally at fault.  In either case, these incidents are a sad state of affairs.

Georgia Worried About Water

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) as of July 30 has installed a 1-year moratorium on new ground and surface water diversions in much of the SW quadrant of the state.  The Lower Flint and Chattahoochee River basins are where the 17 partial and full Counties that are affected reside.  Most of this area is both a groundwater and surface water moratorium.

According to some in the state, the high price of corn along with the droughty conditions have got many producers wanting to expand irrigated acres. The Tifton EPD office that issues irrigation permits for Southwest Georgia has received six times the number of new permits in the first six months of 2012 than it did in the same period in 2011.

The EPD feels everyone will be at risk if new permits are not better controlled, with director Jud Turner going on record as saying  “The water resources affected by the suspension are a significant source of water for irrigation.  A continued increase in withdrawals from these resources may ultimately lead to unacceptable impacts to existing users or compromise the sustainable capacities of these resources.”

The reason for the 1-year moratorium is to study the water systems more.  While they know the groundwater levels are dropping and the stream base flows are being reduced, they are not sure how much of these impacts are due to increased water development versus the drier natural conditions.  They suspect both are at fault, but want to understand to what extent each is responsible.

You can read more here.  And here is the state's Press Release.  Just for comparison, we've had the equivalent of this moratorium on new development here in NW Kansas since about 1986.  As responsible as this action may appear, my guess is that with the reported declining groundwater levels they're going to ultimately discover that they too are behind the water development policy curve.  The delayed effect of groundwater development may be claiming another victim.  I hope I'm wrong.

Great Man-Made River? I Suspect Groundwater!

The Great Man-Made River resides in Libya and is one of the late Muammar Gaddafi's pet projects.  It is an enormous network of wells, pipes, reservoirs and other infrastructure that supplies groundwater from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System in SE Libya northward to the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirte and other metropolitan areas, and to various irrigation projects along the way.  Some consider it the largest irrigation project in the world.  According to their website, it's a network of pipes and aqueducts over 1,600 miles long being fed by more than 1,300 deep wells in 6 wellfields.  This system is reported to withdraw and transport 1.921 million AF per year.   

Efforts to find oil in southern Libya in the early 1950's led to the discovery of the groundwater being tapped. The project itself was originally proposed in the late 1960s - just before Gaddafi became the Ruler of Libya in 1969, but actual work didn't begin until 1984 with the construction of the first of five phases.  The total cost of the project is projected at more than $25 billion.

  

The groundwater supplying this system is from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System which accumulated during the last ice age and is not currently being replenished.  It is a hard sandstone aquifer covering parts of four African nations - Egypt, Libya, Chad and Sudan.  It ranges in thickness from 400-700 feet thick, but can reach 1500 feet thick in areas.  According to Wikipedia it contains fairly good quality water - from fresh to slightly brackish.

There is a bit of a disagreement on the longevity of the supply, however.  The project claims supplies will last 1,000 years at the 2007 withdrawal rates, while independent analysts project a more modest 60-100 year lifespan.  I wonder who is right?  And perhaps more importantly, I wonder who Egypt, Chad and Sudan are more prone to believe?

 

Let The Games Begin!

The first Mississippian zone horizontal oil well in our GMD started drilling operations Wednesday in Gove County by Apache Corp.  While approved for 6 individual wells on the same drilling pad, the company says it will start with just 1 well to see how the formation looks.  No mention of whether or not hydraulic fracturing will take place, but I'm certain that it will based on the water right filed - 4 million gallons of fresh Ogallala groundwater.  While the water right information is available for this well, the approved Intent to Drill (ITD) from the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) is nowhere in sight.  Since this is all very new, I'm going to give Apache and the KCC the benefit of the doubt on this oversight - probably just not posted on the KCC website yet.  I personally don't think any oil well should be drilled until the ITD and water right information are available to the public. 

Incidentally, the second horizontal oil well - also by Apache, Corp. - is also slated to begin soon.  I was able to find a copy of this well's ITD but not any paperwork on its water right.  In Kansas the ITD's are issued by the KCC while the water rights are issued by the Division of Water Resources (DWR). So, in our first two oil wells, each agency is one for two.  Of course, neither well shows up in the national FracFocus.org website - an issue I've discussed before.  This is supposed to be the site where fracking information is voluntarily registered - well locations, chemicals used, etc., etc. - but is a year and a half behind in their postings.  Supposedly Kansas has made it a requirement that fracking activities get posted here, but I'm not holding my breath.  As of this post, there are only 67 wells listed on this site for the entire state of Kansas with only 2 of them located in the NW quadrant of the state that I'm interested in.

My intention is to track these wells and monitor the activities on them.  If nobody gets any local groundwater quality samples, maybe this can be a GMD activity - creating a baseline quality data set.  If the board wants to do this, we're going to need to know where all the wells are, and start collecting groundwater samples soon.  At the very least we can watch the construction of these wells and any subsequent plugging activities.  Let's hope all goes well.