Kansas wildlife agency seeks $1.9 million reappropriation for dam repairs; committee trims other funds

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks officials told the Legislative Budget Committee on an unspecified date that they are asking the committee to reinstate $1.9 million in state general funds to finish deferred dam maintenance and to restore about $700,000 from the Economic Development Initiatives Fund that the committee’s staff recommended deleting.

"The Legislative Budget Committee recommends proposed cuts to our budget that threaten our ability to conclude dam maintenance projects and fulfill essential operating functions," Barb Albright, chief fiscal officer for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, told the committee. She said the $1.9 million request is a reappropriation of funds originally appropriated in fiscal 2024 and that the agency had already spent about $800,000 preparing work on the dams.

The request targets repairs on low-hazard dams that the agency said have been deferred and require specialized diving consultants to inspect and install inlet plates or plugs. "We are limited to the consultants that we can use, and they have specialty divers," Brett Blackburn, the agency’s chief engineer, said. He said few dive teams…