Gov. Laura Kelly has announced Kansas is receiving $9 million from the federal Inflation Reduction Act for two projects aimed at mitigating the impact of drought in Kansas.
“Decades of over-appropriation and more frequent droughts have now put communities across Kansas in crisis,” Kelly said. “These projects will be instrumental in our work to increase our state’s water quality and quantity.”
The Kansas Equus Beds Aquifer Recharge, Storage, and Recovery Project near Wichita will receive $7 million. This is a critical supply for more than 20% of municipal, industrial, and irrigation water users in Kansas. The Kansas Voluntary Agreements Program was selected to receive $2 million for the state-implemented Kansas Water Transition Assistance Program in either the Prairie Dog Creek or Rattlesnake Creek Basins.
When fully implemented, the Equus project will recharge the Equus Beds Aquifer, providing water to Wichita at a rate of up to 100 million gallons per day through injection and infiltration of Little Arkansas River diversions into the aquifer in south-central Kansas. The Kansas Water Right Transition Assistance Program will conserve approximately 10,000 acre-feet by rotating temporary land fallowing or permanently retiring water rights.
Kelly advocated for federal water funding to be extended into Kansas to help family farms and ranches, small towns, and wildlife avoid the severe and potentially irreversible impacts of drought.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Third District Democrat, voted for the Inflation Reduction Act and supported additional federal funding for these projects.
“I’m glad to see resources from the Inflation Reduction Act coming home to Kansas,” Davids said. “The ongoing effects of drought are a persistent threat across our state. This investment is a critical step to protect Kansans’ livelihoods, support the work our farmers do to feed the world and protect the economic security of towns across Kansas.”
This announcement builds upon previous investments of almost $33 million from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for aging infrastructure, water recycling, and WaterSMART projects in Kansas.
The Inflation Reduction Act includes an overall $550 million for domestic water supply projects and $4 billion for water conservation and ecosystem projects in the Colorado River Basin and other areas experiencing similar levels of long-term drought. To date, U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation has announced 222 drought mitigation and 16 domestic water supply projects from Inflation Reduction Act funding for a total of more than $2.5 billion.
