Volume 44 - Issue 34 - August 21, 2025
State of Kansas
Department of Agriculture
Division of Water Resources
Notice of Hearing on Proposed Administrative Regulations
A public hearing will be conducted at 10:00 a.m. October 27, 2025, in room 124 of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, 1320 Research Park Dr., Manhattan, Kansas, to consider the adoption of proposed regulations. The public hearing will be conducted in person and via video conferencing system. Members of the public who wish to attend the public hearing virtually must pre-register at: https://kansasag.zoom.us/j/81598721238?pwd=iyDhQXsQctaqlCe6v81437wfJNcHEm.1&jst=1.
This 60-day notice of the public hearing shall constitute a public comment period for the purpose of receiving written public comments on the proposed rules and regulations. All interested parties may submit written comments prior to the hearing to the Secretary of Agriculture, 1320 Research Park Dr., Manhattan, KS 66502, or by email to ronda.hutton@ks.gov. All interested parties will be given a reasonable opportunity to present their views orally on the adoption of the proposed regulations during the hearing. To give all parties an opportunity to present their views, it may be necessary to request each participant limit any oral presentation to five minutes. These regulations are proposed for adoption on a permanent basis.
A summary of K.A.R. 5-4-1, K.A.R. 5-4-1a and K.A.R. 5-4-1b follows:
The Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources (KDA-DWR) is proposing the revocation of two regulations and the adoption of one new regulation related to the implementation of the Kansas Water Appropriation Act, K.S.A. 82a-701, et seq. (KWAA). The regulations relate specifically to claims of water rights impairment. Water rights are real property rights pursuant to the KWAA.
K.A.R. 5-4-1 previously governed claims of impairment and is proposed for revocation. A streamlined version of its requirements is proposed to be adopted in new regulation K.A.R. 5-4-1b.
K.A.R. 5-4-1a currently applies to impairments caused by what the regulation refers to as a “regional lowering of the water table” and also is proposed for revocation because a regional lowering of the water table that does not include one single well interfering with the pumping of one other single well is not impairment. A regional lowering of the water table alone cannot cause impairment. The KWAA provides that the exercise of junior water rights is permitted to cause a reasonable raising or lowering of the water table so long as the exercise of a junior right does not interfere with the exercise of a senior right. All situations that constitute impairment can be adequately dealt with pursuant to K.A.R. 5-4-1b in conjunction with the KWAA’s impairment statutes.
K.A.R. 5-4-1b will remove the requirement that a senior water right holder submit a “request to secure water” to KDA-DWR after the agency has already determined that the senior right is being impaired and remove the requirement that KDA-DWR solicit recommendations from the area groundwater management district regarding the resolution of the impairment. This proposed amendment is intended to closely align the agency’s regulations with the clear intent of the KWAA that it is the Chief Engineer of KDA-DWR who is vested with the authority and responsibility to take action to remedy an impairment and to determine the way that should be done. K.A.R. 5-4-1b would also provide that a water right owner who complains of impairment only must provide certain additional information to the chief engineer upon request and would remove notice requirements that are redundant to those already contained in K.S.A. 82a-717a.
A summary of K.A.R. 5-19-1 and K.A.R. 5-19-2 follows:
The Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources (KDA-DWR) is proposing amendments to two existing regulations related to the implementation of the Kansas Water Appropriation Act, K.S.A. 82a-701, et seq. (KWAA). The regulations relate specifically to water quantity allocations within a Local Enhanced Management area or “LEMA.” LEMAs are an existing statutorily authorized local-level conservation tool that allows a groundwater management district to bring forward a plan to the Chief Engineer of KDA-DWR that is intended to reduce water use within the LEMA, thereby extending the useful life of the groundwater resources in those areas.
These regulations are intended to reflect recent updates to the LEMA statute that will authorize LEMA plans to provide for multi-year quantity allocations that allow a water right to divert water more than its authorized annual quantity in a given year so long as the diversions do not exceed the total assigned quantity allocation over the LEMA term. The regulations refer to these multi-year allocations as “fixed allocations” and establish requirements pertaining to them. This change will allow water right owners within a LEMA to use more water in years when doing so may be necessary due to weather or other factors while using less water when it is not needed and still retaining the unused quantity for future use. This will provide greater water use flexibility for irrigation water right owners within a LEMA while promoting water conservation.
K.A.R. 5-19-1 is the regulation that sets out definitions for the implementation of the LEMA statute. The proposed amendment to this regulation will add a definition of “fixed allocation.”
K.A.R. 5-19-2 sets out the substantive regulatory requirements governing LEMA plans. The proposed amendment to the regulation adds requirements pertaining to LEMA plans that provide fixed allocations. It provides that the fixed allocation requirements set out in the regulation apply only to LEMAs with initial terms beginning after the effective date of the regulation. It also provides that historical water use under an individual water right shall not be used to establish fixed allocations and that fixed allocations shall instead be based on the overall goal of the LEMA in conjunction with one of several other factors listed in the regulation.
Economic Impact Statement
The proposed regulations are not mandated by federal law as a requirement for participating in or implementing a federally subsidized or assisted program and do not exceed any requirements of federal law.
The proposed regulations will not enhance or restrict business activities and growth or impose any costs on business and economic development, local government, or individuals. In addition, they will not cause any changes in aggregate state revenues and expenditures for the current or next fiscal year. LEMAs are voluntarily requested by the boards of directors of groundwater management districts, and the use of fixed allocations are within a LEMA plan.
There are no implementation and compliance costs associated with K.A.R. 5-4-1, 5-4-1a, and 5-4-1b. The proposed regulations remove many onerous requirements previously imposed on the owners of impaired or allegedly impaired senior water rights and place more of that responsibility solely on the agency. The proposed regulations will substantially improve the ability to protect real property rights. Existing law already provides that impairing junior water rights are to be regulated in accordance with the determination of the Chief Engineer.
K.A.R. 5-19-1 and 5-19-2 do not impose implementation and compliance costs, as LEMAs are never required and the use of fixed allocations within a LEMA is also not required.
Businesses that own water rights within an area where a new LEMA that allows for fixed allocations is established would be directly affected, but the regulations themselves do not impose any mandatory costs on such businesses and will not automatically benefit them absent voluntary action by local groundwater management districts.
The main benefit of the proposed regulations is increased flexibility provided to groundwater management districts in crafting LEMA plans and to agricultural producers in managing their water use within a LEMA. The regulations have no true costs, as they simply provide voluntary water management tools.
The proposed regulations will not impose any immediate or long-range economic impact on individuals, small employers, or the general public.
Although there will be no direct impact on cities, counties or school districts, the Kansas Association of Counties, Kansas Association of School Boards, and League of Kansas Municipalities were each provided a copy of the regulations and asked to assess the economic impact of the proposed regulations on those entities. All of these entities either did not respond or stated that they would incur no impact.
In developing the proposed regulations, the agency consulted with the Kansas Livestock Association, Kansas Farm Bureau, the Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association, Kansas Corn Growers, the Kansas Rural Water Association, Kansas Municipal Utilities, the Kansas Water Office, and the five Kansas groundwater management districts.
Any individual with a disability may request accommodations to participate in the public hearing and may request the proposed regulations and economic impact statements in an accessible format. Requests for accommodations should be made at least five working days in advance of the hearing by contacting Ronda Hutton at 785-564-6715 or fax at 785-564-6777.
Copies of the proposed regulations and economic impact statements may be obtained by contacting the Department of Agriculture, Ronda M. Hutton, 1320 Research Park Dr., Manhattan, KS 66502 or 785-564-6715 or by accessing the department’s website at https://www.agriculture.ks.gov. Comments may also be made through our website at the following link: https://www.agriculture.ks.gov/public-resources/public-comments.
Earl Lewis
Chief Engineer
Division of Water Resources
Department of Agriculture
Doc. No. 053414
