Putting plans into action was a key talking point at the 11th annual Governor’s Conference on the Future of Water earlier this month.
Neosho River Basin planner Angela Anderson says reservoir sediment, a longstanding issue for the John Redmond Reservoir and others in the eastern half of Kansas, was one of the discussion points at the conference. Despite a dredging projedct several years ago and ongoing efforts to reduce silt through adding cover crops, streambank stabilization and other means, John Redmond has still lost around 40 percent of its capacity due to sediment. Anderson says it’s time to act.
Short-term, event planner and Kansas Drought Task Force supervisor Katie Goff says the state water supply is OK — for now.
Besides the ongoing drought and reservoir sedimentation, the conference featured numerous breakout sessions with topics including regenerative agriculture, water challenges from the utility perspective, groundwater issues, surface water issues, water and human health, flood data and crops in changing climates among others. Goff says it was important to address topics that have been mentioned the past few years and would have a positive impact across as much of the state as possible.
The Neosho Regional Advisory Committee is still focusing on increasing practices like cover crops, as well as no-till agriculture, filter strips and streambank stabilization.
More information about the conference and the work of the Kansas Water Office is online at kwo.ks.gov.
*Click here for a link to the Neosho Action Plan.
*Click here for a link to the Kansas Water Vision Plan.
