Kansas Water Office pushes certified irrigation assessments to target measurable water savings

Weston McCrary, director-level presenter at the Kansas Water Office, told the Committee on Water that the state's Water Innovation Systems and Education (WISE) program has converted legacy farm technology efforts into a system of standardized field evaluations intended to focus cost-share dollars on measurable water savings.

McCrary described the Certified Irrigation System Assessment (CISA or ISA) as the program's baseline tool. "We're going to use a system evaluation to find where we need to put the cost share dollars instead of just putting them out there and letting a producer say ... I'm gonna go put it into soil moisture probes," McCrary said, arguing assessments improve fiduciary outcomes for public funds.

He gave recent results: the office has "completed a 132 of these system assessments to date" in the last 18 months across five Groundwater Management Districts and, since 2021, "done 230 plus of these system evaluations," producing a sample suggesting roughly 58–63% conversion of pumped water into economic return in that sample. McCrary framed that efficiency in practical terms: "we're converting 7 gallons of every 10 or 70% of it were effectively turning into dollars" in the sample, while noting evapotranspiration and distribution nonuniformity reduce effective returns.

McCrary said the assessments identify mechanical and pressure issues that more reliably raise performance than some earlier cost-share approaches. He cited examples where modest equipment upgrades (for example, replacing worn booster pumps and adding variable-frequency drives) produced energy savings and improved distribution that could justify the investment. The office has been paying producers to bring paperwork and has covered system-evaluation costs; McCrary said earlier programs even paid "$500 to bring in their paperwork" and provided "75 to a 100% coverage on cost share to make the improvements."

Training and workforce development are central to the rollout. McCrary credited veteran irrigation engineer Lee Wheeler for mentoring new evaluators and said four people were certified under Wheeler in the past year. He described plans for workshops, video training modules and prescreening tools developed with university and industry partners to identify underperforming pivots and triage where engineers should be dispatched.

Committee members pressed on funding and duration. McCrary said the Kansas Water Office is seeking sustained state dollars, industry partnerships and federal leverage; he said the office is planning the program rollout for the next five years but that ITI and RCPP federal funds are uncertain. He offered to provide follow-up information on specific ITI/RCPP funding timelines.

The committee heard producer testimony and exchanges during questioning that reinforced the perceived value of the assessments; one producer cited paying about $3,500 initially but receiving reimbursement later and estimated an $8,000 pump replacement could save roughly $14,000 a year in his instance.

The committee invited further questions and indicated staff follow-up on funding and program expansion would be appropriate next steps.