[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6387256,"mediaKeyId","2116780-55ec2a37615de9f054a6ec8a4930b622","parentId",2116780,"title","Kansas Water Office unveils implementation framework aiming for a rolling 50-year water supply","audioSeconds",815,"startMs",2732750,"endMs",3547855,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2116780-55ec2a37615de9f054a6ec8a4930b622&start=2732&end=3547","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2116780-55ec2a37615de9f054a6ec8a4930b622/thumbnail_2732750.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6387256/Kansas/Kansas-Water-Office-unveils-implementation-framework-aiming-for-a-rolling-50-year-water-supply","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6387256-8de423d8f49598280bb3b89ff775f194/orig.mp4?Expires=1770742419&Signature=OkR8ftcObDWFVMlD72bFyzLMe5KH9za~djx57cN~39QgHQq8ytZG-0emzZsY0373ONSpIBj263~fz~8VCCyhxS-o5Fpp78IHihhn~KWKsNqBgQ8adQFHw-aiv9FdXVJ8dLXNfZ-YkaK4vnCDd01LQYdy8vGFcs1VCSiaQ-8cjLQcWOTei7fmLeoqe64cBULTNoUGhrPoY~XpEMMwkJNTFVWrrZrvwy962JHEB1UPTaCFfn21wckbrEAmtgGQWxFHiRf1Ww8umvWKUX7ftrHIzKuSx~OC56cQtThizMzKiNRQ3xc4yL1ZMBr7rTe8C8D7z5VtoIY9uE3F7WNrrO~MXw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Committee on Water, KS","date","2025-01-14T00:00:00Z","article","Julie Lorenz, project manager for the interagency implementation effort, told the House Committee on Water that the Kansas Water Office and partner agencies have drafted a strategic implementation framework to move the 2022 Kansas Water Plan from policy into measurable action.

Lorenz said the framework establishes a two-year ramp-up period to build capacity, set metrics and refine programs before a longer ten-year program intended to deliver measurable progress toward a rolling 50-year water-supply goal for Kansas communities.

Nut graf: The framework is meant to be both \"bold and practical,\" Lorenz said — pairing a long-term, generational goal with incremental, two-year accountability cycles and specific outcomes to guide funding and program design.

Lorenz told the committee the team engaged more than 1,500 Kansans and more than 50 stakeholder groups during the development of the framework and identified 43 two-year outcomes and eight core recommendations to support the plan's implementation. She said the framework tests different investment scenarios (including a $60 million and $140 million annual scenario) to show what could be accomplished at different funding levels and that communities supported a ramp-up to ensure programs can be administered effectively.

Lorenz framed the effort as a rolling target: by 2035 the state would measure progress toward ensuring communities have a 50-year water supply and then extend the endpoint forward so the target remains a 50-year horizon in successive decades. She emphasized outcome measurement and periodic public reporting so legislators and residents can see how money is used and what results are achieved.

Subcommittee members asked about priorities and metrics; Lorenz pointed to planned pilot and scale-up examples such as irrigation-technology cost-share programs where the framework would set specific short-term and 10-year targets (for example, number of systems upgraded, percentage water-use reductions and measures of economic viability for producers).

Lorenz closed by describing the generational rationale behind the 50-year view: she recounted students and stakeholders who urged policymakers to preserve water for future Kansans and urged the committee to pair ambition with measurable near-term steps.

Ending: Chair Jim Minnicks and members indicated they would request more detailed follow-up work and that the Water Authority would present its annual report and more implementation detail in the committee next week.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Committee on Water 01/14/2025","oneSentenceSummary","Julie Lorenz described a two-year ramp-up and a 10-year program to operationalize the 2022 Kansas Water Plan and pursue a rolling 50-year water-supply goal, emphasizing measurable outcomes, stakeholder input and steady funding.","taxTitle","Committee on Water, Standing, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative, Kansas","taxId",20417,"location","Kansas","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6387265,"Kansas agencies outline how new State Water Plan transfers will fund reservoir, groundwater and small-town projects",2059,39845,2099785,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2116780-55ec2a37615de9f054a6ec8a4930b622&start=39&end=2099","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2116780-55ec2a37615de9f054a6ec8a4930b622/thumbnail_39845.jpg","/articles/6387265/Kansas/Kansas-agencies-outline-how-new-State-Water-Plan-transfers-will-fund-reservoir-groundwater-and-small-town-projects","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6387265-7b09c71b1db6d05f1961861e53086b37/orig.mp4?Expires=1770742419&Signature=VXFPu4njoov0fQpI7COcQeofM0gLvZ0nxnQKCWRgweSfWIXE4lnY6811RcM66AlCljKq99bkHX9itK0nHWRMrKDFe48W4QiVgrPljgH2mzMztznqRuiXJdQuXQbemK9832~eDkIGshu5qbisEXiP1dO9O4O4ornqRA7fEQ~nP8vUqI0EclTR-xoLDd4yV94s5dTnBGgbVCG4C8Y7Edhqp0~x4mSIX5hPza66H4tqIYY5kHU8Wipol2NyJVotOzQ2f0SWTu5NqHaJKmZYWSBzsU3mxA1yLFtU3rMfNpX1eyuTuzkHrAJKzHpBTh12-2HVOy6Bi87zWW~jB9r4nx-lSg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Kansas Water Office and partner state agencies told the House Committee on Water on Tuesday that the Legislature's recent transfer to the State Water Plan Fund under Senate Sub. for House Bill 2302 will finance reservoir protection, groundwater projects and grants for small communities.

Connie Owen, director of the Kansas Water Office, said the statute creates a five-year transfer of $35,000,000 a year into the State Water Plan Fund and that $18,000,000 of that amount goes to the Water Office budget for FY24 allocations and related programs.

The transfer funds two newly created grant programs administered through the Water Office: a Technical Assistance Grant targeted primarily to communities of about 2,000 people or fewer, and a Water Projects Grant for infrastructure needs such as treatment upgrades and sewer lines. Owen told the committee the two grant pots initially were set at $7,500,000 (technical assistance) and $19,500,000 (projects), and that an additional $10,000,000 was later added to the grant programs.

Nut graf: Committee members heard agencies describe how the new money will be divided among interagency priorities — reservoir sediment-reduction projects, groundwater studies and monitoring, dam repairs, irrigation efficiency and emergency response — and how demand already far exceeds available funding.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported it received $5,800,000 in FY24 from the State Water Plan Fund under HB2302 and that it directed $3,200,000 of that to small-town drinking- and wastewater infrastructure projects. Leo Henning, deputy secretary and director of environment at KDHE, told lawmakers that the FY24 outlays included drinking-water facility work for Leon and lagoon projects in Riley County. He also said KDHE spent about $1,500,000 on contamination remediation at orphan sites and directed $1,000,000 to the Kansas Geological Survey to begin a groundwater quality monitoring network.

Earl Lewis, chief engineering director at the Division of Water Resources in the Department of Agriculture, described several uses of the larger package of funds. He said the governor set aside $7,000,000 as a one-time investment for Rattlesnake Creek, and the division dedicated roughly $2,500,000 of that to leasing water rights to reduce stream depletion and support the nearby National Wildlife Refuge. Lewis said the leasing effort targeted roughly 4,000 acre-feet of water rights and that the local community added about $1,300,000 in incentives to the leasing pool.

Lewis also said $3,000,000 was directed to high-hazard dam construction and rehabilitation in FY24 and FY25 and that the funding has addressed about 20 to 25 dams in the first two years. He described an irrigation-technology cost-share program that was expanded to match a federal USDA grant of about $25,000,000 over five years; state matching dollars plus county and producer cost-share are part of that program.

Matt Inder, assistant director at the Kansas Water Office, described the Kansas Reservoir Protection Initiative as an ongoing program that uses targeted, watershed-level incentives for sediment-reduction conservation practices. \"The primary focus of those funds is financial assistance support for producers within prioritized areas of those watersheds to implement sediment-reducing conservation practice implementation,\" Inder said, naming cover-crop incentive payments as a principal activity.

The agencies shared demand figures to illustrate unmet need: in the most recent application cycle, technical assistance grant requests totaled about $29,000,000 when $7,500,000 was available, and water-project applications requested about $207,000,000 when $19,500,000 was available.

Connie Owen also noted a federal change that will lower the state's long-term cost for reservoir storage debt: she said Congress's recent Water Resources Development Act altered interest treatment from compound to simple interest, a change the Water Office estimated will save Kansas roughly $41,000,000.

The committee asked follow-up questions about specific programs, including the status of the Rattlesnake Creek pilot augmentation project (an environmental impact statement is at the Bureau of Reclamation headquarters for final review, with public review expected in February) and progress on pilot water-injection dredging at Tuttle Creek (a contractor has been selected and operations are scheduled to begin this spring). KDHE said it has identified roughly 140 orphan contaminated sites statewide and will continue remediation work.

Ending: Committee chair Jim Minnicks said the committee will receive additional briefings next week from the Kansas Water Authority chair and other staff with the annual report and the strategic implementation framework. The agencies told lawmakers the new funding is starting to flow but that demand greatly exceeds available resources.","The Kansas Water Office, KDHE and the Division of Water Resources described how a five-year transfer created in Senate Sub. for House Bill 2302 will be spent, including $35 million annually with $18 million allocated to the Water Office and new grant programs for small communities.","actionData","errors"]

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Kansas Water Office unveils implementation framework aiming for a rolling 50-year water supply

Kansas agencies outline how new State Water Plan transfers will fund reservoir, groundwater and small-town projects