Remarks For H.R. 540

REMARKS FOR H.R. 540 -- (Extensions of Remarks - May 23, 2005)

SPEECH OF
HON. TODD TIAHRT
OF KANSAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MONDAY, MAY 23, 2005
·
Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in favor of H.R. 540. This bill would authorize the Equus Beds Aquifer recharge project in my district that will help meet the water needs of nearly 500,000 people in Kansas. This is an environmentally beneficial plan that will help ensure the City of Wichita, surrounding smaller communities, agriculture irrigators and local industry will have a clean and plentiful water supply for decades to come.
·
I want to thank Chairman POMBO for his leadership in working with me on this important project. Seeking federal authorization for the recharge of the Equus Beds Aquifer is something I have worked on for many years, and I am grateful to the Chairman and his staff for including language contained in my original bill into H.R. 540.
·
I also want to thank City of Wichita officials for their efforts in helping this project move forward. Their vision to ensure our community's water needs are met both now and in the future is extremely important. Leadership from Mayor Carlos Mayans along with City Council members Carl Brewer, Sue Schlapp, Jim Skelton, Paul Gray, Bob Martz and Sharon Fearey will continue to be needed for this project to be a success.
·
Wichita Water and Sewer Director David Warren and Water Supply Projects Administrator Gerald Blain have been especially helpful to me and my staff over the years in navigating the details of the recharge project. I appreciate their dedication to public service.
·
Nearly half a million people depend on the Equus Beds Aquifer and Cheney Reservoir to meet their water needs. Without water from the Equus Beds, Wichita and surrounding communities would face a serious water shortage.
·
The Equus Beds Aquifer is the body of water beneath portions of Sedgwick, Harvey, McPherson and Reno counties within the boundaries of Groundwater Management District Number 2. The aquifer lies under 900,000 acres, and annual withdrawals from the aquifer average 157,000 acre feet. Approximately 55 percent of the water is used for irrigation; 39 percent is used for municipal needs in Wichita, Halstead, Newton, Hutchinson, McPherson and Valley Center; and six percent is used by local industry.
·
The Equus Beds Aquifer recharge project involves taking floodwater from the Little Arkansas River and depositing that excess water into the aquifer through water supply wells after going through a filtration system.
·
Since the 1950's, water levels in the aquifer have dropped 40 feet because water rights and pumpage exceed the aquifer's natural recharge rate of six inches per year. Due to this over usage, saltwater from the southwest and oilfield brine from the northwest are threatening the aquifer. When the aquifer levels were higher, the elevated levels created a natural barrier that kept the contamination at bay. Now that the water levels have dropped, the natural barrier is no longer there. If the aquifer is not replenished, the maximum chloride levels will eventually exceed what is permitted for both agricultural and municipal usage.
·
This aquifer recharge project is a win-win project for all the communities who depend on its water. The City of Wichita and surrounding municipalities benefit because water can be safely stored to meet short-term and long-term water supply needs.
·
Agriculture irrigators also benefit because the risk of saltwater contamination is reduced. Without the natural barrier of an elevated water level in the aquifer, the water would eventually become contaminated to the point where it would be unsuitable for use even on crops. Irrigators should also see reduced costs associated with pumping since the water level will rise.
·
The Little Arkansas River and its ecosystem also benefit. During times of drought, a natural discharge from the Equus Beds Aquifer into the river will occur creating a more stable base flow.
·
Under the language contained in H.R. 540, the City of Wichita will be required to maintain and operate the recharge project, which ensures the federal government will not bear costs associated with its ongoing operation costs.
·
Recharging the Equus Beds is the most cost-efficient means to provide water for the greater Wichita area. And it is the best option available to keep salt and oilfield brine out of this critical water supply without greatly restricting water usage.
·
In 2004, Gerald Bain with the City of Wichita testified before the House Committee on Resources on the need for federal authorization of the recharge project. I am including his testimony with my remarks because I think it tells of the water needs faced by our community and the many benefits that will come with a recharge of the Equus Beds.
·
I urge my colleagues to join me today in voting for H.R. 540. This is a good bill that will greatly benefit the people in south-central Kansas.
·
The 2004 testimony by Gerald T. Blain, P.E.:
·
The City of Wichita, Kansas has had water supply wells in the Equus Beds Aquifer for over 60 years, and the aquifer has been a major source of the City's drinking water. However, because of excess pumping from the aquifer by municipal and agricultural users, water levels in the aquifer had declined up to 40 feet from their pre-development levels by 1992. Because of this over development, the Equus Beds aquifer is threatened by saltwater contamination from two sources. One source is natural saltwater from the Arkansas River located along the southwest border of the City's wellfield. The other source is oilfield brine contamination left over from the development of oil wells in the Burrton area in the 1930's, located northwest of the wellfield.
·
Groundwater modeling by the Bureau of Reclamation indicates that the chloride levels, which are an indicator of salinity, could exceed 300 mg/l in much of the wellfield by the year 2050. This would be above the 250 mg/l standard for drinking water. In order to protect the water quality of the area, steps must be taken to retard the movement of the salt-water plumes.
·
In 1993 the City of Wichita began implementation of a unique Integrated Local Water Supply Plan that is intended to meet the City's water supply needs through the year 2050. By the year 2050 it is projected that the City's water supply needs will almost double what they are now. The City's Plan uses a variety of local water resources to meet water needs, rather than requiring the City to transfer water from a remote reservoir in Northeast Kansas. A key component of the Plan includes an Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) project to recharge the City's existing wellfield in the Equus Beds Aquifer.
·
The excess pumping from the aquifer, and the resulting water level decline, has created a storage volume of almost 65 billion gallons that can be used to store water. The basic concept of the City's ASR project is to capture water from the Little Arkansas River and use it to recharge the aquifer. Computer modeling, and past experience at other sites throughout the country, has found that by recharging the aquifer a hydraulic barrier can be created that would retard the movement of the salt-water plumes. In addition, the 65 billion gallons that could be stored in the dewatered portion of the aquifer could be used as a component of the City's water supply.
·
Unfortunately, all of the ``conventional'' water rights in the Little Arkansas River have already been allocated. However, excess flows in the river, which occur only after it rains or snows, have not been allocated. Computer modeling has predicted that there are enough days of excess flow that enough water can be captured to allow the aquifer to be recharged and become a valuable component of the City's water supply. The modeling predicts that if the City builds an ASR system with the capacity to capture up to 100 million gallons per day, that it would still capture only a fraction of the water flowing down the river, and it would not have a negative impact on the river.
·
The City intends to capture water from the river using two techniques, either by using ``bank storage'' wells or by pumping directly from the river. ``Bank Storage'' wells take advantage of a unique geological condition that occurs along the river. As the river rises above the base flow, water is temporarily stored in the river's banks, but as the flow in the river declines, the water in the banks discharges back into the river. The City intends to drill wells adjacent to the river that will capture ``bank storage'' water and induce river water to replace the water pumped.
·
The City recognized that some of the concepts included in the proposed ASR project have not been done before, so to prove the feasibility of those concepts the City completed a 5-year Demonstration Project. During the Demonstration Project, which was done in partnership with the Bureau of Reclamation and the US Geological Survey, the City constructed a full-scale well adjacent to the Little Arkansas River, a river intake and a water treatment plant, and a variety of recharge facilities. To prove that the recharge project was safe, over 4,000 water samples were collected and analyzed for up to 400 different potential contaminates. During the Demonstration Project over one billion gallons of water were successfully recharged into the aquifer, and the City was able to prove that excess flows in the Little Arkansas River could be captured and recharged, and that it can be done without harming the aquifer.
·
The full-scale ASR project, which will be constructed in phases, will capture and recharge up to 100 million gallons per day, and will cost approximately $137 million. All of the water that will be recharged into the aquifer must meet drinking water standards, and will be monitored and regulated by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
·
Normally, when surface water is developed for a water resource, it requires the construction of a reservoir. A reservoir that would provide the same storage as this ASR project would probably consume around 25,000 to 30,000 acres of prime farmland. It is projected that the ASR project will use less than 400 acres of farmland.
·
The City of Wichita and others believe that the ASR project is a Win-Win project, because it appears that all of the stakeholders receive benefits from the projects. As a result of this project:
·
The City develops a water supply source that will allow it to meet its water supply needs through the year 2050.
·
The water quality of the wellfield is protected from salt-water contamination.
·
There is no requirement to curtail irrigation to restore water levels and protect water quality.
·
Irrigators will have lower pumping costs because water levels will be higher.
·
Low flows in the Little Arkansas River will improve, because additional water will ``leak'' from the Equus Beds back into the river.
·
The project uses less land than any other surface water development project.
·
The City has already implemented some components of the Integrated Local Water Supply Plan, including implementation of a water rate structure designed to reduce water consumption, and a greater emphasis on using water from Cheney Reservoir, and a corresponding reduction in water pumped from the Equus Beds. That alteration in water use has already allowed water levels in the Equus Beds to rise over 20 feet in some areas.
·
Phase I of the ASR Project, which is currently being designed, will have the capacity to capture and recharge up to 10 million gallons per day of water from the Little Arkansas River by using Bank Storage wells. The location of the first recharge facilities is intended to begin the formation of a hydraulic barrier to the movement of salt-water plume from the Burrton area. It will take almost 10 years to construct the entire full-scale project.
·
The City believes that this project represents a new approach to developing water resources, while at the same time protecting an existing water resource from contamination. The City of Wichita therefore urges support for federal assistance for this unique project.

http://thomas.loc.gov