KDHE outlines statewide water-quality risks, highlights PFAS detections and contaminated-site backlog

Leo Henning, deputy secretary and director of environment at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, told the Water Program Task Force that Kansas faces widespread surface- and groundwater quality challenges, and that a newly regulated family of chemicals — PFAS — has become a high-priority problem for public water systems and the environment.

Henning said KDHE implements federal programs including the Clean Water Act (NPDES permitting) and the Safe Drinking Water Act and monitors water quality across the state. “We have 30,620 stream miles that are considered waters of The U.S.,” he said, and listed bacteria, sediment and nutrients as the most frequent causes of impairment. Henning added that trash is a growing citizen concern in streams.

Why it matters: KDHE provides the state's technical and regulatory framework for both surface-water standards and drinking-water compliance. Henning described how the agency prioritizes impairments through the 303(d) listing and the total maximum daily load (TMDL) process — which addresses point-source contributions under permits — while noting nonpoint runoff is addressed through voluntary best management practices.

On PFAS, Henning said EPA has set drinking-water limits for two compounds at 4 parts per trillion and that public water systems must complete required sampling by 2026. He told the group that KDHE has results from 92 public water systems so far, that two systems have found PFOA/PFOS above the federal MCLs, and that KDHE is working with affected systems and with some cities that have taken State Revolving Fund loans to treat PFAS at wastewater plants. Henning added that KDHE’s preliminary surface-water sampling shows PFAS detections are widespread but with relatively few locations exhibiting high concentrations.

Henning also reviewed KDHE’s contaminated-site work. He said the state is managing roughly 2,750 contaminated sites and that about 140 of those are “orphan” sites where no responsible party exists; KDHE pays remediation costs for orphan sites from the state water plan. He gave a rough cost estimate of about $1 million per orphan site and noted that KDHE has closed or resolved about 12,650 sites historically. KDHE also provides some limited testing assistance for residents with private wells through a LEPP program, but Henning emphasized private wells are not regulated as public water systems and KDHE does not pay for private well remediation.

Discussion and next steps: Task force members asked about the agency’s PFAS outreach and about biosolids and landfill leachate as PFAS pathways. Henning said KDHE will offer more detailed PFAS presentations and will continue to provide technical assistance to systems and residents. Several members also asked KDHE to provide more detail on lead-and-copper inventories and on the number and cost of required pipe replacements.

Ending: Henning urged members to remember that impairments matter most when they curtail actual uses (for example, harmful algal blooms that make a reservoir unsafe) and said KDHE will continue sampling, enforcement and technical assistance under federal program requirements.