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<br />00185Z <br /> <br />Chapter 3 <br /> <br />WATER WITHDRAWALS IN 1965 <br /> <br />In 1965, the Water' Resources Board conducted a detai led study of the <br />use of water by Kansas cities, industries, irrigators, and farmers. <br />Several reports were publ ished based on these studies. Irrigation <br />in Kansas analyzed county by county the historic irrigation develop- <br />ment and contained estimates on the quantity of water app! ied. <br />Industrial, Municipal, ~ Rural Domestic Water Demands analyzed <br />the water use by Kansas industries and municipal ities. In that <br />study, an industrial water use questionnaire was sent to approx- <br />imately 3,300 industrial firms and 120 firms engaged in electric <br />power generation. Over two-thirds of the industrial questionnaires <br />and 98 percent of the electric generation questionnaires were returned. <br />Information on water use for more than 240 additional firms was <br />obtained by personal contact with municipalities supplying water to <br />the companies or through a review of the industrial water rights on <br />file with the Division of Water Resources, State Board of Agriculture. <br />Municipal water use was examined in detail in the same report. <br />Further data were pubJ ished by the Water Resources Board ;n its <br />report Inventory of Public Water and Waste Treatment Fac;l ities. <br />Additional Water Resources Board unpubl ished studies have analyzed <br />the water use in individual communities as to the effect certain <br />factors had on domest ic water use. In thi s phase, water suppl ied to <br />industries was separated from total municipal water use. <br /> <br />Although the report Industrial, Municipal, ~ Rural Domestic Water <br />Demands discusses water use by farmers and their livestock, subsequent <br />studies have refined the original 1965 estimate of water use. <br />Consequently, the following paragraphs are the Kansas Water Resources <br />Board's best estimate of the quantity of water used by various <br />segments of the Kansas population. I t is the intent of the Water <br />Resources Board to periodically assess water use by the citizens of <br />Kansas. <br /> <br />Irrigation <br /> <br />Irrigation has been practiced in western Kansas since the earl iest <br />influx of white settlers, at first primarily by diversion from streams. <br />Later windmil Is were introduced to pump water for the irrigation of <br />small areas of crops and gardens. In 1895, the Kansas Legislature <br />created the Board of Irrigation Survey and Experiment for the purpose <br />of making a practical test of the water supply in the uplands of <br />western Kansas for irrigation purposes. Over the next 30 years other <br />legislation was enacted to encourage irrigation. <br />