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Kansas farmers urge coordinated conservation, propose graduated cuts and market tools to stabilize groundwater
Summary
Producers from across Kansas told the House Committee on Water that groundwater declines and drought require local and statewide responses including LEMAs, certificated-allotment cuts, flow meters, water markets and continued conservation practices.
Members of the Kansas Farm Bureau’s water committee and farmers from several counties told the Kansas House Committee on Water on Monday that accelerating groundwater declines and drought require coordinated, measurable conservation across all water uses.
The daylong testimony, introduced by Kent Askren, Public Policy Director for Kansas Farm Bureau, drew producers from Osborne, Wallace, Haskell, Stafford, Sedgwick, Pratt and other counties who described declining aquifer levels, local groundwater management actions and proposals to share cuts across water‑right holders.
The presenters said local tools such as Local Enhanced Management Areas (LEMAs), groundwater management districts (GMDs), flow meters and voluntary market arrangements can help manage declines without abrupt, unilateral enforcement. "The Kansas Farm Bureau policy supports the GMD Act," said Jarvis Gerritsen, a fourth‑generation farmer in Haskell County and member of the Kansas Farm Bureau Water Committee. Gerritsen urged reductions be applied to certificated…
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