Committee restores reappropriations for Kansas Water Office, approves John Redmond pilot and reduced water-planning funding

The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget subcommittee on June 7 restored multiple lapsed state water plan reappropriations for the Kansas Water Office and approved scaled-back enhancement funding, including $1.5 million for a hydrosuction pilot at John Redmond Reservoir and $1,770,000 for water planning and project development.

The committee heard a briefing from Luke Drury, senior fiscal analyst with Legislative Research, who summarized the Kansas Water Office budget and said a special committee had previously deleted about $7.9 million in reappropriations. Drury told members “the water office also did include one enhancement request that did include a couple of different funding items ... for a new reservoir sediment management initiatives line and ... monies for water planning and project development.”

Vice Chair Long led a motion to restore six reappropriations — including storage operations, conservation technical assistance, assessment and evaluation, reservoir/water quality research, education and outreach, and HB2302 grant administration — proposing rounded or reduced funding levels. The committee voted to restore that package (the chair’s staff later tabulated the restored amount at roughly $2.94 million for that grouping). Members discussed that several line items are encumbered or tied to federal matching, and that reinstatement requires affirmative committee action.

On larger state water plan items, the committee approved a $25,000 reinstatement for the Kansas Reservoir Protection Initiative, $1.5 million for High Plains Aquifer Partnerships (of a larger request), and $750,000 for water-quality partnerships that leverage federal cost-share. The panel then considered FY2027 enhancement requests: the Kansas Water Office requested roughly $2.3 million for long-term water planning and $1.5 million for reservoir sediment management initiatives. Drury and the water office explained the planning request would fund basin-by-basin work, compiling reservoir storage, sedimentation rates and supply-demand forecasts across Kansas’ 14 basins.

Vice Chair Long moved to fund a $1.5 million hydrosuction pilot at John Redmond Reservoir and to provide $1,770,000 for water planning and project development; the water office assistant director (identified in transcript as “Madame Ru”) explained FY26 and FY27 funding is intended to support year‑two of John Redmond work under a new reservoir‑sediment management line but could be used for other reservoir sediment priorities if timing allowed. The motion passed. The committee then approved the Kansas Water Office budget as amended for FY2026–27.

What’s next: staff will fold these amendments into the appropriation report and the committees responsible for the full budget will incorporate the subcommittee’s recommendations. The John Redmond pilot was funded as a dedicated project within the reservoir management line; members asked for subsequent reporting on results.