By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HALSTEAD, Kan. — After a delay due to the pandemic, the Kansas Department of Agriculture finished up hearings last week on the city of Wichita’s request to change the way it draws water from the Equus Beds.
The request from Wichita is strongly opposed by the Equus Beds Groundwater Management District that covers Reno County and the surrounding area. The proposal would let the city of Wichita draw water without any timetable to replace it, as per the current contract.
“The hearing has been wrapped up as far as oral arguments,” Groundwater Management District General Manager Tim Boese said. “Now the parties can submit legal briefs in support of their testimony.”
Boese says he feels good coming out of the hearings and hopes that Wichita will not be given the extra freedom to draw water from the underground aquifer.
“I think the district testimony and expert witnesses presented a good case for the district,” Boese said. “I think we showed the hearing officer on why the changes should not be approved that the city of Wichita wants to the recharge project.”
Boese feels the proposal gives the city too much freedom in taking water from the aquifer, especially during drought.
Boese also says any significant lowering of the aquifer could allow a major salt pollution plume to start migrating farther in the water table. It’s estimated that there was as much as 1.9 million tons of salt in the water table in a 36 square-mile area around Burrton.
The end of the hearings closes out a long drawn out process that started in March of 2019, but was mostly snuffed out in 2020 due to the pandemic.
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