COLORADO RIVER WATER WOES

As Western Kansas comes closer and closer to a ‘dust bowl’ drought – like the 20 year long drought in Colorado and western states, Kansans should pay close attention to water use and sustainable growth for the future. As Kansas over-appropriated groundwater rights in the 1950’s through the 1970’s, the Colorado River Compact was negotiated in 1922 between upper basin states (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) and the lower basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada (with Mexico added later). The premise on average river flow was17.5 million acre-feet annually. The river’s actual flow has averaged less than 15 million acre-feet each year for the past century. Then the drought hit from 2002 to 2022 and the river’s annual flow averaged just over 12 million acre-feet (with the last three years less than 10 million).

The U.S. Department of Interiors Bureau of Reclamation has been negotiating deeper reductions among the states. It hasn’t been enough and last summer the water level in Lake Mead sank to 1,040 feet above sea level, its lowest ever. At 950 feet the Hoover Dam will no longer generate hydroelectric power and at 895 feet no water would be able to pass the dam at all – a condition called ‘dead pool’. In June 2022, the Interior Department gave the states 60 days to reduce their use of the Colorado River by 2 to 4 million acre-feet – about 20 to 40% of the river’s entire flow. The deadline came and went. The new deadline was this January 31 and six states came to some agreement on a 2 million acre-feet reduction but not California (that has the largest allotment – 4.4 million acre-feet - among the seven states).

In California, the largest user of Colorado River water is the Imperial Irrigation District which has rights to 3.1 million acre-feet (as much as Arizona and Nevada combined). The Imperial Valley covers 800 square miles in the southeast corner of California. For comparison, Kansas has 3.8 million acre-feet of water allocated and Kansas covers 80,000 square miles. California has the ‘senior’ water rights over Arizona and Nevada thus forcing those states to reduce water consumption. Another angle to this dilemma is that about half of the water going to Arizona via the Central Arizona aqueduct goes to Native American tribes which have ‘senior’ water rights and water reductions violate a trust obligation from the federal government. The water battles are here and now. Decisions between crop irrigation and subdivision developments will have to be made. Kansas has some more time but not much. Kansas cannot simply take away groundwater rights entirely but the water appropriations act allows KDA to seriously curtail water use. To this point Kansas has not found and pledged the funding to retire water rights at the level necessary to insure future sustainability.

KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY AGRICULTURE PRESENTATION

J. Ernest Minton – KSU Dean of Agriculture and Director of K-State Research and Extension – gave the 2023 Annual Report to the Kansas Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on January 31. He started with fundraising successes of $81 million in private gifts along with $25 million of public funds from the State and a possible challenge grant consideration of $25 million. For now, the goal for buildings and technology upgrades is $200 million with an ultimate future goal of $500 million. There will be a new ‘Global Center for Food and Grain Innovation’ as well as renovations for Call Hall and Weber Hall. There are also plans for a new ‘Agronomy Research and Innovation Center’ and a ‘Livestock Competition Arena & Horse Teaching/Research Unit’ that would seat 3,000.

Agriculture is the largest economic driver in Kansas with economic studies documenting that every $1 spent on agriculture education and research at KSU returns $17 in economic activity over the years. In two years, 8 food companies announced $2.8 Billion in new investments and 2,000 jobs. (Companies like JTM Foods, Schwan’s, Hills Pet Nutrition and Scorpion Biological Services). Regenerative agriculture is now a new focus. Regenerative farming is a way to work with nature to make the soil richer and healthier. Scientists find it can be a long-term solution for many of agriculture’s greatest challenges. Research shows that using cover crops, double-cropping and growing diverse species increases the organic soil carbon producing better soil structure and water infiltration. Tania Kim approaches pest and weed control in an ecologically friendly was by encouraging ‘good insects’ – who eat harmful insects and weed seeds – into crop fields. Logan Thompson is moving a national study on ‘regenerative grazing’ to Kansas to study how livestock can help improve soil health and sequester carbon into the soil.

Research awards coming from outside the university have increased from $23.8 million in 2011 to $68.8 million in 2022. In 2021, total university research was $204 million with Ag. Research at $94.5 million – 46% of the total. For agriculture experiment stations - grants, contracts, other funds accounted for $57.2 million while state appropriations were $33 million and federal funds $4.5 million. Cooperative extension services had $22 million in funding from counties, $15 million in grants & contracts, $5.4 million in federal funds and $21.2 million in State appropriations. The College of Agriculture is at $12.1 million in state appropriations plus tuition with $5.1 million from grants, contracts & other funds. The challenges continue. After years of underfunded maintenance budgets, upgrading and modernizing older buildings is a task. Outside research funding is defined by the funder and not necessarily specifically focused on Kansas needs. There is no ‘local food’ economist on staff at KSU. Sustainable agriculture research and programs continue to be underfunded.

Innovative Agriculture Serving Kansas and the World

Farm Bill Update

By Tom Buller

This week, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) held its Winter Meeting in Washington DC, and I was able to attend and learn about the ongoing progress towards a new 2023 Farm Bill.While assignments for the key House and Senate committees are still in the process of being finalized, work is underway to complete a new Farm Bill before the current one expires at the end of September. The committees have already started having hearings, and we are watching the introduction of so-called marker bills, which are smaller pieces of legislation that will be introduced for committee debate with the goal of being rolled into the larger Farm Bill as it is compiled. NSAC is working to get several marker bills introduced, among them the Agricultural Resilience Act focused on climate and conservation, a yet to be named local foods marker bill, and the Strengthening Local Processing Act, which will build support for small and regional scale meat processing.There will also be efforts to improve the crop insurance options for small-scale and diversified farm operations who are currently mostly left out of the risk management options for larger operations. Key priorities in all these areas include not only expanding support for good programs that currently exist, but also refining how key programs operate to make them more accessible for those who have been traditionally underserved by the USDA.

Kansas is well represented on the key committees with Representatives Mann and Davids both on the House Agriculture Committee, Senator Marshall on the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Senator Moran serving on the Appropriations Committee.Alongside colleagues for Cultivate KC, this week I was able to meet all these legislators briefly and have more detailed discussions with their staff to highlight opportunities for the next Farm Bill to strengthen Kansas communities both rural and urban.

As marker bills are introduced, and key topics come up for discussion in Washington, we will do our best to keep you informed so you can share your thoughts with legislators about how the Farm Bill can help build a brighter future for Kansas. If you have any key topics that are of particular interest or concern for you, and especially if you have stories to share about how programs have had an impact on you, either positive or negative, please let me know-tom@kansasruralcenter.org.

NSAC is hosting a Rally for Climate Resilience on

March 6-8 in Washington DC

TheRally for Resilience will bring together farmers and farm organizations from all over the country with a united request for their members of Congress–make climate change policy a priority in the 2023 Farm Bill! If you are a farmer who is interested in attending, let Tom know by Feb 6 so he can try to secure some financial assistance to support your journey tom@kansasruralcenter.org.

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OBSERVERS

Kansas Legislature Website