Ron Highland has been working all year long on streamlining the state’s policy on water use matters.
The 51st District House representative from Wamego has chaired the chamber’s Water Committee this year, and one of his major focal points is in determining which agencies are responsible for what aspects of water policy. It may not sound like a major issue — until you realize there are over 20 state and federal agencies with some authority over water management.
Highland has other concerns as well. For eastern Kansas, including the entire KVOE listening area, the main issues are water storage as major reservoirs like John Redmond continue to collect silt — and flooding, which causes episodic issues of its own.
Further west, a major issue is possibly having uranium in the water supply. Highland says it will cost millions of dollars for small towns to clean up uranium that is spreading. Lakin has a uranium cleanup system and is helping at least one other town with potential uranium issues, while Garden City is eyeing potential mitigation work and issues are starting to be seen in northwest Kansas.
State law in Kansas is different from other states in that Kansas water policy only deals with water use, not the mineral or other rights under bodies of water. The Water Committee has been meeting with representatives of all 23 agencies involved in water policy, learning the scope of their work, organization structure, potential overlap in work and potential structure for state water policy depending on the agency. Committee members are now soliciting public opinion on water matters.
