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<br />Hutchinson News Wednesday, Aug. 12, 1987
<br />
<br />Study predicts serious water shortages ahead in I(ansas
<br />
<br />By Dave Ranney
<br />Harris News Servlre
<br />One-third of the state's major
<br />river basins (ace crippling water
<br />shortages within the next 50 years.
<br />according to a recent study by the
<br />Kansas Water Office.
<br />The troubled basins. all in West-
<br />ern Kansas. have a long history of
<br />tapping underg-Tound water sup-
<br />plies faster than they art' rep-
<br />lenished. More than 90 percent of
<br />the usage stems from irrigation.
<br />"We aren't '.!ta.ving there's an
<br />immediate emergenc)". but thert~'s a
<br />definite prohlem 50 or 60 years . Upper Republican: Ground-
<br />do.....n the road," says Darrel Eck. water supplies are expected to
<br />lund. a water resource manager drop 51 percent. Alread)', the basin
<br />~'ilh the Kansas WatE"r Office. "If does not have enough surface water
<br />tne people want thE" n~tur~l reo to cope with a serious drought.
<br />source to be .therE" for the,lr ch~Jdren (4 . Upper Arkansas: Ground-water
<br />and grandchildren, there 5 gOLng. to suppHes are e-xpected to drop ~9
<br />have to be a lot ~?re cO,~servatlOn percent. Limited surface water
<br />and a lot more efflc~ency. won't be enough to cope with a
<br />The stu.dy, considered ~he .most serious drought. RE'cent heavy
<br />thoro~gh In the 70-yea.r history of flows in the Arkansas River are
<br />the .K~nsas Water Office, blended considered temporary and will have
<br />statls~lcS from s~ate and federal minimal effect through the Ark
<br />agencies to predict how current River Basin supplies.
<br />trends would affect supply and . Smoky Hill.Saline: Ground.
<br />dema~d to the year 204? water supplies are expected to
<br />Ba~ms though~ to be In trouble: drop 22 percent. Limited surface
<br />.. Clmarron: Ground.water sup. water won't be enough to keep pace
<br />plies are expected to drop 79 per- with municipal and industrial de-
<br />ce.nt. . Already. .surface w~ter sup. mands during a serious drought.
<br />phes In reservotrs. lakes, rtvers and c
<br />. 'bl IVITAN GARAGE & BAKE SALE.
<br />streams are neghgl e. August 151h, 11th & MaIn. ADV.
<br />
<br />129~
<br />
<br />.
<br />
<br />.
<br />
<br />.
<br />
<br />'I know that Issues
<br />like conserving water
<br />and soli don't sound
<br />very exciting, but if we
<br />don', give them our
<br />serious attontion, we're
<br />going to see this part of
<br />the country dry up and
<br />blow away.'
<br />- John Davis,
<br />task force member
<br />
<br />Water
<br />
<br />As water sinks lower in the a.
<br />quifer, it becomes more expensive
<br />and Jess practical to pump. Irriga-
<br />tion has been declining in re('ent
<br />years, but still exceeds- thf' a-
<br />quifer's ability to recharge it~elf,
<br />officials say.
<br />In the Cimarron basin. for ex-
<br />ample, the aquifer is thought to
<br />have 90.4 million acre feet of water.
<br />with an annual rechargE' of 280.000
<br />acre feet. In 1984, however, the
<br />aquifer was tapped for roughly
<br />1.9G2.000 acro feet: by 20~0 it's
<br />expected to be down to only 18,7
<br />million acre feet.
<br />An acre foot - 43,560 cubic feet
<br />- is the amount needed to cover
<br />one acre with one foot of water. An
<br />acre of. irrigated corn requires
<br />about two acre feet of water in a
<br />growing season.
<br />The dire predictions come as no
<br />surprise to those charged with
<br />monitoring the areas' water sup-
<br />plies.
<br />"Our overall water levels de-
<br />clined almost two feet last year.
<br />That's unacceptable," said Gar).
<br />Baker, manager of the 5.5 million-
<br />acre Groundwater Management
<br />District No.3, which spreads across
<br />13 counties. within the Cimarron
<br />and Upper Arkansas hasins.
<br />"People like to think the eeon-
<br />amy of diminishing returns will
<br />See WATER, Page 2
<br />
<br />jMC(iar~iv:er:~asiris~in;'Kansas:~.: . '~fr':\.::..; ,:.;~.~' ,',:~~;;;~
<br />. ~- . - - .- : . ';. r _ _ _;..- 4 ;"'. t: "';_,
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /> Republic
<br /> Cloud Clay "-
<br /> u
<br /> Li Onawa
<br />Wallace Logan Gove Trego Ellis Russell
<br /> SalLne
<br />"- "0\ e Ness us
<br />u MeP,.
<br />
<br />frank; i\li:irp'l
<br />
<br />e .And.'.. .Llr..n~
<br />
<br />J
<br />
<br />Finney
<br />
<br />Reno
<br />
<br />Hodge
<br />
<br />Gray
<br />
<br />Ford
<br />
<br />Kingman
<br />
<br />Sumner
<br />
<br />~ Upper Republican I I Solomon I:.. e .e.;1 Walnut
<br /> ......
<br />I I Smoky Hill-Saline I I Lower Arkansas I I Missouri
<br /> .
<br />I I Upper Arkansas I I Kansas Lower I.....' Marais Des
<br />Republican .:........,... Cygnes
<br /> ,. .....
<br />~ Cimarron ITIllIIIIJl Neosho I I Verdigris
<br />
<br />Continued from Page 1
<br />dictate conservation. To a degree
<br />that.'s true, but it's hard to imagine
<br />the economy getting much worse
<br />and we're no where near solving
<br />tbe problem:'
<br />Conserva.tion efforts have been
<br />hampered by state water laws de.
<br />signed to ~rotect the rigbts o[ ir.
<br />rigators. But as the aquifer falls out
<br />of reach I irrigators are starting to
<br />call for protection against them-
<br />selves.
<br />An area task (orce asked to re~.
<br />ommend ways to enforce ~onserva-
<br />tion along the Arkansas River in
<br />Hamilton, Kearny and Finney
<br />counties is leaning toward mandat-
<br />ing meters on all irrigation wells to
<br />prevent exploitation. Such a pro-
<br />posal was considered off. limits just
<br />a few years ago.
<br />"People say metering is too ex.
<br />pen.c;ive," says John Davis. a
<br />member of the task foree and pres-
<br />ident of Fidelity State Hank in
<br />Garden City. The cost is estimated
<br />a SI.OOO to SI.500 per well.
<br />"But I know for a fact that our
<br />bp-st opcr!\tors already 'havE'
<br />
<br />Hutchinson News . Wednesday, Aug. 12. 1987 Page 2
<br />
<br />meters. They want to know how
<br />much water they're using at all
<br />times. They don't want to waste it,"
<br />"We've been blessed with a nat-
<br />ural resourse out here: Water. But
<br />with that blessing comes an obliga-
<br />tion to good management for our.
<br />selves and our future," Davis said.
<br />"1 know that issues like conserving
<br />water and soil don't sound very
<br />exciting, but if we don't give them
<br />our sE'rious attention. we're going
<br />to see this part o( the ~ountry dry
<br />up and blow away,"
<br />Still. tbe law does not promote
<br />conservation.
<br />"The state has been over-
<br />appropriating water rights and
<br />approving too many wells for more
<br />than 40 years:' Baker said. "When
<br />thing-s started getting out of hand
<br />about 10 years ago, we came up
<br />with ground water management
<br />districts to try to straighten ever-
<br />thing out.
<br />"This isn't an easy job, You
<br />might say the horses were out or
<br />the barn a long time before we
<br />wpre called in."
<br />
<br />I The Hutchinson News
<br />
<br />{USPS 2S41201
<br />
<br />316-662-3311
<br />Putlli,~ deU, and 5uncl., .t
<br />JOO Wnt secOl'lel
<br />RICl'lard E. BUZbee-
<br />EdiTor .nd PUtlll~~
<br />
<br />Rlch.rd 0 POI)p-
<br />AUI".nt Publ'~r
<br />
<br />Roger Verdon-M.n."'n" EdITor
<br />
<br />Freel Hipp-Advert,$in" Director
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<br />RObert Pelers. cOmDO"ng room 'oremen~
<br />D.E. M.ngels, pt'"enroom toreman
<br />
<br />~~
<br />~~' UJ '-~~:','." 59
<br />
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<br />3 months 12. 64. PIU~ la.
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<br />1:7'50.
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