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Farm Bureau members lobby for water plan funding in Kansas

Kansas Farm Bureau is lobbying lawmakers to fully fund the state’s water plan before a shortage impacts the ag industry.

President Joe Newland tells Brownfield the state has depleted reservoirs and the Ogallala Aquifer and it will need millions of dollars to solve the problem. “How do we really cut back, and still produce what we need to in order to protect the state economy and the livelihood of our producers?”

Kent Askren, public policy director with KFB, says the plan includes a water injector dredging program for Tuttle Creek.  “They will actually resuspend sediment that’s already in the reservoir and send that downstream much as if it would have if the dam had not been there in the first place so we can recoup that as best as we can.”     

Farmer Randy Hayzlett says quality is an issue due to uranium leaching from Colorado and the Arkansas River.  “Last year we had about 10 tons of uranium come across the state.  It percolates down and gets into our groundwater there.  The city of Laykin actually had to put in a $6 million water treatment plan for a small community of about 2500 people.”

In a previous interview with Brownfield, Governor Laura Kelly said water quality and quantity is her top priority in her second term.