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Page 2 of 2 <br />The Ogallala's diversity makes it hard even to delineate subunits, said Hank Hansen, manager of southwest Kansas' <br />Groundwater Management District No. 3. The process has taken more than a year to define. <br />GMD 3 subunits are based on areas where withdrawal rates have exceeded the aquifer's ability to sustain long -term <br />irrigation, Hansen said. <br />For GMD No. 4 in northwest Kansas, low- priority areas will be those declining less than 6 percent between 1996 and <br />2002; medium is any section declining between 6 percent and 8.99 percent; and high is areas declining 9 percent or more <br />during that same time period, said Wayne Bossert, the district's manager. <br />Graff s district still is determining what methods to use. Ideas include saturated thickness and the amount of water being <br />pumped. <br />Meetings with irrigators in high - priority subunits will take place sometime next year, Graff said. Brainstorming sessions <br />help determine how to accomplish goals, as well as find programs to aid in solving depletion issues. <br />All ideas will be tossed on the table - from regulatory measures like Intensive Groundwater Use Control Areas to <br />voluntary programs, Graff said. <br />The problem, said Hansen, is funding. <br />A program passed by the Kansas Legislature that would phase irrigated land into dryland farm ground is one idea <br />considered, but federal funding is questionable. <br />"There really isn't enough money to solve this problem," Hansen said of the depleting aquifer. <br />David Pope, the Division of Water Resources' chief engineer, said he recognized the complexity of the subunit concept, <br />but if management goals aren't met, more regulatory actions could be put in place, including those that follow "first in <br />time, first in right." <br />If that happens, "it won't be a pretty sight," Pope said. "We want to avoid a train wreck." <br />Pope said it's time to recognize that the aquifer is being depleted and start taking management steps to solve the problem. <br />"The reality is depletion has occurred, it is occurring, and it has gotten pretty extensive in some areas," he said. "We need <br />to deal with it for the long -term good of this area." <br />It is a sensitive subject, Hansen said. And even without funding, management protocol is important. <br />"This puts us in the most favorable position to demonstrate good public policy regard to water management," he said. "It <br />makes the aquifer more manageable on a small scale." <br />< return to original page <br />Copyright 2003 The Hutchinson News <br />http: / /www.dailynews. net/ hutchinson /egi- bin/printerpage.pl 8/23/2004 <br />