Subcommittee approves $14.8 million water package for Kansas Water Office, including planning, grants and aquifer mapping

The House appropriations subcommittee approved $14,800,000 in enhancements to the Kansas Water Office budget to support basin-scale water planning, grant and technical-assistance pools created under House Bill 2302, a sediment-management pilot at John Redmond Reservoir, an independent program evaluation, and additional airborne electromagnetic (AEM) aquifer mapping.

Luke Drury, senior VISTA analyst with the Kansas Legislative Research Department, explained that the Water Office submitted no supplemental requests for FY2025 and that several FY2026 enhancement requests — including FTEs and capital outlay — had been removed in the Legislative Budget Committee’s global recommendation before the subcommittee considered them. The Water Office summary shows a mix of reauthorized funds (including rollovers from unspent FY2024 project money) and requested enhancements.

Victoria (last name not provided), a Kansas Water Office representative, described the enhancements to members. She said the first item, “water planning and project development,” funds basin-by-basin long-term water-supply planning to develop regional project pipelines. Two House Bill 2302 programs — a technical-assistance fund to support engineering reports and project planning and a projects fund to help implement infrastructure upgrades — would receive additional appropriations; the presentation indicated an $8,000,000 increase to the projects/program statutory pool.

Other items approved included funding for a hydro-suction pilot at John Redmond Reservoir to address sedimentation, an independent program evaluation to assess the effectiveness of funded water programs, and funding to complete AEM (airborne electromagnetic) mapping of the High Plains Aquifer in additional Groundwater Management Districts in partnership with the Kansas Geological Survey.

Representative Rogers moved to approve the Water Office enhancements as presented. The committee voted to add $14,800,000 to the Kansas Water Office budget on a voice vote and later passed the Water Office budget as amended. The chair again reminded members that any water funding approved by the subcommittee remains subject to final acceptance or denial by the full Appropriations Committee during the statewide budget process.