Turning on the tap: Major players in the water industry
By CLEON RICKEL, Herald Senior Writer
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Water. It's essential to all of us. But pollution and limited resources threaten our water supplies, and a confusing web of entities control who gets water and how much. The Herald's exclusive, six-part series examines important water issues facing Franklin County.
Congress and the Kansas Legislature write the rules for water.
But as the rules-interpretation and enforcement run down hill, it resembles a Grade 5 white-water tumult.
If you want to draw water from a stream you'll have to deal with one agency; and returning the water to the stream, that's another agency. And what you do with it in the meantime, that's another couple of agencies.
When it comes to water, there's a sometimes-bewildering variety of groups and agencies involved with the issue, often resembling alphabet soup, Charlene Lister, Ottawa representative of the Marais des Cygnes River Basin Advisory Group, said.
"It's a very complicated picture," Elaine Giessel, who watches water issues for the Kansas chapter of the Sierra Club, said.
And more often, it's a picture that federal regulators have become more willing to ignore in recent years, Giessel said.
FederalAt the federal level, there are several agencies involved with water issues but on the whole, three major agencies have a major impact on how water is used in Kansas.
Environmental Protection Agency.The EPA writes the standards for water quality standards and concerning pollutants in water and air.
The EPA's Office of Water includes offices relating to Groundwater and Drinking Water, Science and Technology, Wastewater Management and a Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds office.
However, as the EPA notes, trying to regulate the water quality throughout the U.S. is so huge an undertaking, that for the most part, the EPA allows its regional offices -- there's one in Kansas City -- and state regulators handle the standards written by the EPA -- which generally means the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
The Kansas chapter of the Sierra Club has often gone the gamut concerning the KDHE's regulatory efforts.
"We're concerned it's not uniform from one state to another," Giessel said. "Some states enforce the standards closely and some are more lax.
"Kansas is more lax."
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps' district office at Kansas City.Under federal law, all navigable streams are under the direct control of the Corps. In the past the Corps has insisted, and courts upheld them, that "navigable" includes most streams in the nation and state.
The Corps has wide authority over what happens concerning navigable streams, including dredging, pollution in conjunction with the EPA, flood control, utility lines and pipelines crossing the streams, neighboring wetlands and other related matters.
In recent years, Kansas and other states have chipped away at the definition of "navigable" and had some success in the courts, Giessel said.
Two years ago, the Kansas Legislature, spurred by agribusiness interests, rewrote the state's definition to limit the number of navigable streams in the state -- and limit the amount of government oversight of them, she said.
Although federal law says otherwise, the Corps made no objection to the state's action, she said.
The Corps is also a major player in Franklin County water issues because it owns the major reservoirs, Pomona, Melvern and Hillsdale lakes, which are in the Marais des Cygnes River basin.
And because the Corps built Ottawa's dike system, the city must maintain it according to Corps standards.
U.S. Department of Agriculture.Much of the department's efforts concerning water are handled through the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The NRCS has local offices in many Kansas counties including Franklin County.
The NRCS encourages those farm practices that lessen water pollution and help enhance water quality and preserve other natural resources. The NRCS provides a variety of payments and grants to farmers and ranchers as well as grants for water-related research.
StateIn Kansas, there are three major agencies dealing with water issues, plus some agencies with an indirect impact.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment.The KDHE maintains and regulates standards for public water supplies, such as those operated by cities and rural water districts.
The KDHE does not require private well owners to test the quality of water from their wells, although it does recommend that wells be tested for bacteria and nitrates. However, the KDHE does require that water-well contractors chlorinate wells upon completion of drilling.
The KDHE also regulates those who discharge into rivers and streams, including municipal wastewater treatment systems, the disposal of sewage, oil and gas field materials, and nonpoint sources of pollution.
Kansas Department of Agriculture's Division of Water Resources.The Division of Water Resources administers 28 state laws, including Kansas water rights and appropriations, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's national flood insurance program, and construction of dams, levees and other changes to streams within Kansas.
The division also administers the state's four interstate river compacts.
The division can also order water users to curtail their draw from rivers and streams to maintain stream flows.
State Conservation Commission, especially the Kansas Water Authority and the Kansas Water Office. The commission is also involved in the Natural Resource Conservation Service and oversees the counties' conservation districts.
The authority's 24 members include representatives from water-user interest groups and state agencies.
The authority advises legislators and state officials on water planning issues, and approves the annual Kansas Water plan, which is drafted by the Kansas Water Office.
The water plan, which includes recommendations on state water policy and for new laws, is often the basis of the new laws approved by the Legislature.
The water office also advises the governor concerning drought issues.
By state law, the Kansas Water Office writes and maintains guidelines for water conservation plans and practices, and provides technical assistance for water uses required to adopt and implement conservation plans.
The office tracks water amounts in each of the federal lakes in which the state owns storage space. The office also sells water to municipalities and industrial users.
The authority and office also are guided by the recommendations of 12 river basin authorities, one for each of the river basins in Kansas.
Others Other state agencies have an impact on water policy including research, monitoring, advice and funding including the Kansas Geological Survey, the Kansas Corporation Commission, the Kansas Biological Survey, Kansas State University's Cooperative Extension Service, the Kansas Water Resources Research Institute and even the Kansas Department of Commerce.
Regional/LocalLocal and regional groups do the heavy hauling when it comes to water, selling and distributing, offering advice to state and federal regulators and doing their own projects to improve water quality and supply.
Rural Water DistrictsRural water districts -- there are seven based in Franklin County plus several others from other counties that serve Franklin County -- have their own water systems and districts and sell water to rural customers and, in some cases, cities in the county.
Marais des Cygnes River Basin AuthorityThe Marais des Cygnes River Basin Authority advises the Kansas Water Authority and Kansas Water Office, which oversee state water policy, concerning issues involved the Marais des Cygnes River, its tributaries and lakes.
Increasingly, the group, in conjunction with other water interest groups, has adopted a more public profile and is seeking to educate the public about preventing pollution and wiser use of water.
The Lake Region Resources Conservation and Development CouncilThe Lake Region Resources Conservation and Development Council, which has done a wide variety of projects to boost rural areas, has become more concerned with water quality issues, joining the river basin group on some of its educational projects, hiring a forester to cut water pollution through the use of trees, and funding conservation and water-quality projects.
Water Quality ProjectsThe Hillsdale Water Quality Project, a non-profit volunteer group that works to improve water quality at Hillsdale Lake. The group's success has inspired other similar groups, such as the Melvern Lake Water Quality Project.
Kansas State Extension ServiceThe Kansas State Extension Service's Ottawa experiment station been the forefront of researching ways to cut erosion and farming-related contaminants going into the Marais des Cygnes River and tributaries.
The Franklin County Conservation District The Franklin County Conservation District, which with the local NRCS, offers funding and advice to farmers and ranchers on conserving water and adopting practices that help improve the water.
The Franklin County Planning DepartmentThe Franklin County Planning Department, which enforces the county's sanitation code and inspects the wide variety of private septic systems in the county.
What the planning department does is an important local function, Giessel, of the Sierra Club, said.
Failing septic systems are a significant source of water pollution, she said.
"When they fail, the stuff runs down hill and eventually gets into the river, where we get our drinking water," she said.
The Kansas Sierra Club The Kansas Sierra Club is the state chapter of the nonprofit dedicated to preserving the outdoors and natural resources. In recent years, the group has taken a more active profile, going to court to force regulators to follow federal and state environmental and water quality laws. The Kansas chapter has been at the center of several lawsuits involving the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and other state regulators.
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