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This bill passed in 2023 and provides additional requirements for all five GMD’s across Kansas. The bill requires GMD’s to present annual reports to the Kansas Legislature, to delineate High Priority Areas by July 2024 and to implement Action Plans by July 2025.
This bill provides additional flexibility to Locally Enhanced Management Areas (LEMA). A GMD Board may choose to implement this flexibility in future LEMAs, which allows for (when approved in a LEMA plan) the base annual authorized water right to be exceeded in a given year, as long as the LEMA five-year quantity is not exceeded.
January 23rd, 2024
Starting in 2023, the five Groundwater Management Districts in Kansas are required (per HB 2279) to annually report to the House Committee on Water and (upon request) to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.
GMD 1 report starts at about minute 20:10.
In January Governor Kelly charged the Kansas Water Authority and the Kansas Water Office to develop a plan to be presented to the Legislature in January of 2025. The planning process for this plan has just initially begun and Burns and McDonald a prominent consulting firm has been selected to assist in developing the plan. The first informational webinar was held on April 3rd and the recording can be accessed by selecting the following link . Representatives from the Kansas Water Office and Burns and McDonnell have indicated that there will be many opportunities over the next year for stakeholder input and discussion.