Kansas communities in the last two years have requested more than $600 million for water needs, stunning state officials as they work to allocate funds to a fraction of the projects.
Dawn Buehler, chair of the Kansas Water Authority, told members of a Kansas House committee Tuesday that the state’s two new water grant programs, funded by the Legislature in 2023, have received almost 600 applications for funding in their first two fiscal years.
For the fiscal year that ended in June, the state received requests totaling more than $380 million. But the state had just $18 million available. This year, the state has received requests totaling $227 million but has just $27 million to spend.
“The fact that we had $380 million in requests was alarming … to everyone in water,” Buehler said. “I don’t think that we really, truly knew how much of a need there was.”
KANSAS FACES significant challenges with water from the decline of the Ogallala Aquifer in the arid western portion of the state to reservoirs in the east filling with sediment, threatening water supplies for communities.
According to the Kansas Geological Survey, parts of western Kansas that rely on the Ogallala have fewer than 25 years of water left. Without action, the aquifer that transformed western Kansas into an agricultural powerhouse could dry up.
In recent years, Kansas lawmakers have been working to allocate more money toward water projects, which have been underfunded for years. In a webinar about her plans on Friday, Gov. Laura Kelly said water would be a “top priority” for her final two years in office.
Kelly noted when she took office, the state was not funding its water plan. At her recommendation, the Kansas Legislature funded the water plan for the first time in a decade. Last year, lawmakers passed another $35 million in annual funding for the next five years.
“That additional money is making a difference for Kansas, from our small towns with leaking pipes to farmers looking to implement new water saving irrigation practices,” Kelly said.
But, she said, “we know there’s more to do.”
“We cannot afford to slow down for us, for our children, for our grandchildren,” Kelly said.
LAST YEAR, Kelly charged the Kansas Water Authority with creating a strategic plan to ramp up investments in water and catch the state up on spending. Following local meetings across the state, officials presented the House Water Committee on Tuesday with a list of recommendations from allocating more funds to establishing a state water dashboard website.
In her State of the State Address last week, Kelly announced she would recommend another $30 million per year in spending and seek legislation to overhaul the state agencies that oversee water.
Kelly on Friday called on legislators to start building a 10-year water program like the state’s long-term transportation plan.
“Now it’s time for the Legislature to start building this type of program with a dedicated revenue source,” Kelly said. “Making progress on these priorities will be hard, but we have more momentum than ever.”
