Just a few weeks ago the Division of Water Resources announced the offering of an emergency drought term permit for water right owners looking at exceeding their annual water right amounts in order to complete the 2011 crop. The drought in much of southern and central Kansas has been one for the ages to be sure. The feeling was to shut off irrigation to stay within the limits of the water right and lose all or a substantial amount of the crop production would be a waste of the state's water resources invested in the production to date, so some mechanism needed to be provided to bring in this crop.
Basically the emergency permits require a water right owner to set aside his or her annual water right and be provided a two-year term permit (2011 and 2012) worth double the amount under the regular water right. What ever is overpumped this year must be compensated for next year. The need apparently was there because DWR has now eclipsed 800 term permits in the works - in literally 3-4 weeks time. There is more to this program, but it clearly is a short-term, attempt to get through this devastatingly dry year.
More funadamentally, however, it could be argued that every water right owner knew on January 1, 2011 how much water he or she had for the year. The safe decision would always be to plant only the acres and crop populations that could be completed ONLY with the irrigation water (assuming NO rainfall is received). The problem with this mindset is that in the other 68 years out of 70 they underproduce because they fail to take production advantage of whatever rainfall is received. When it all boils down, it's an economic and risk management system. Seems like most producers have economic production goals and a risk tolerance well above the safest levels. So we tend to operate for the bounty of the moderately dry, average and wet years and scramble for the fixes in the driest of the dry years. Nothing more than human nature I suspect. And in the end, the fixes do keep additional water from getting used, so it seems like reasonable business to me.
Showing posts with label term permits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label term permits. Show all posts
Friday, September 2, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Drought and Kansas Water Rights - Part 2
Well, the decision has been made to offer drought relief to certain Kansas water right owners. Kansas Drought Policy - DWR There are two options: 1) the Multi-year flex account (MFA - covered in part 1 of this issue (here)); or 2) a two-year term permit that basically lets the water right holder borrow against his or her next years water right for any over pumpage this year.
First of all, only water rights in agricultural drought disaster declaration areas are eligible. These Counties are as of today are (in darkest rust color on map):
Barber, Barton, Butler, Clark, Comanche, Cowley, Edwards, Ellis, Finney, Ford, Gove, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kingman, Lane, Lincoln, Logan, Meade, Morton, Ness, Norton, Phillips, Reno, Rice, Russell, Sedgwick, Scott, Seward, Sheridan, Sherman, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Thomas, Trego, Wallace and Wichita Counties.
Moreover, this is a one-time offer. Users will agree to reduce next years authorized quantity by the same amount this year's use is exceeded. Applicants must file on or before December 31, 2011. And water rights in established Intensive Groundwater Use Control Areas or that have any enforcement sanction against them for 2011 are not eligible. If interested, use the link above to see all the program details and to access any filing forms needed for either option.
We have producers in all stages of drought damages. If you have not been able to keep up with the water needs of the crop and its already burnt up or beyond responding to water, the term permit option is not in your best interest. The longer term MFA may be, but take a careful look at it before you jump in. If the additional irrigation water will save your current crop, then by all means you should consider one of these offerings. Filing fees will be based on the total, 2-year term permit, but these are not excessive.
If you do use either program, make sure you understand the new terms and limits of your water right and carefully plan on staying within these limits. There'll likely be more on this topic later.
First of all, only water rights in agricultural drought disaster declaration areas are eligible. These Counties are as of today are (in darkest rust color on map):
Barber, Barton, Butler, Clark, Comanche, Cowley, Edwards, Ellis, Finney, Ford, Gove, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kingman, Lane, Lincoln, Logan, Meade, Morton, Ness, Norton, Phillips, Reno, Rice, Russell, Sedgwick, Scott, Seward, Sheridan, Sherman, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Thomas, Trego, Wallace and Wichita Counties.
Moreover, this is a one-time offer. Users will agree to reduce next years authorized quantity by the same amount this year's use is exceeded. Applicants must file on or before December 31, 2011. And water rights in established Intensive Groundwater Use Control Areas or that have any enforcement sanction against them for 2011 are not eligible. If interested, use the link above to see all the program details and to access any filing forms needed for either option.
We have producers in all stages of drought damages. If you have not been able to keep up with the water needs of the crop and its already burnt up or beyond responding to water, the term permit option is not in your best interest. The longer term MFA may be, but take a careful look at it before you jump in. If the additional irrigation water will save your current crop, then by all means you should consider one of these offerings. Filing fees will be based on the total, 2-year term permit, but these are not excessive.
If you do use either program, make sure you understand the new terms and limits of your water right and carefully plan on staying within these limits. There'll likely be more on this topic later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)