WATER RESOURCES SUSTAINABILITY AND HOW IT IS IMPLEMENTED IN THE STATE OF KANSAS, USA Marios Sophocleous Kansas Geological Survey The University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas E-mail: marios@kgs.ku.edu
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT development that meets the needs of the present without comprising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Brundtland Commission
Safe yield: underlying hydro-ecological fundamentals
SAFE YIELD is commonly defined as the attainment and maintenance of a long-term balance between the amount of groundwater withdrawn annually and the annual amount of recharge.
1945-2009 groundwater-level hydrograph declines (Sophocleous, 2010) Groundwater-level changes: Predevelopment to 2007 (McGuire, 2009)
DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM AFTER DEVELOPMENT can only be achieved by 1. an increase in recharge (natural or artificial) 2. a decrease in natural discharge or 3. a combination of the two
GROUNDWATER SOURCES Groundwater storage Induced recharge of surface water
(T = transmissivity; S = storativity; x = distance from stream; t = time)
STREAM-AQUIFER MODELS (1) A predictive tool explaining the connection between well field withdrawal and surface-water depletion at particular sites Can generate the system transition curve from reliance on aquifer storage to surface-water depletion
STREAM-AQUIFER MODELS (2) What is employed in such models are: specified withdrawal rates well distribution drawdown of water levels to an economic or physical limit A planning horizon must also be defined
EXPANDING SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPTS management for change and for complexity ecosystem approach adaptive management approach
Sustainability of the system
INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLANNING assuring that water resources are managed for the greatest good of people and the environment and that all segments of society have a voice in the process (AWWA, 1994)
The Kansas water resources management experience
Kansas Groundwater Act (1972) authorizing the formation of local Groundwater Management Districts (GMDs)
Planned depletion policy Allows part of the aquifer to be depleted up to 40% over a period of 20-25 years Planned depletion Safe yield increasing precipitation
Safe yield policy: Pumping Recharge
Kansas Arkansas River at Larned Arkansas River at Dodge City Today
Minimum In-stream Flow Law (1984) Requires minimum desirable streamflows be maintained in different streams in Kansas Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) limits (1992-98) TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of that amount to the pollutant s sources
Modified safe yield policy (Pumping + Baseflow) Recharge
Keys to good water management Knowledge of water use Knowledge of water levels
http://hercules.kgs.ku.edu/geohydro/wimas/index.cfm
The Kansas Annual Groundwater-level Monitoring Program
Data Publicly Available WIZARD Water Information Storage and Retrieval Database http://www.kgs.ku.edu/magellan/waterlevels/index.html
Equus Beds ASR Project Equus Beds aquifer Wichita
Equus Beds Aquifer Storage & Recovery schematic
Integrated watershed and groundwater models for Kansas basins (Sophocleous and Perkins, Journal of Hydrology, 2000, v.236, p.185-201)
PROGRESSIVE EVOLUTION OF KANSAS WATER MANAGEMENT Local GMDs and their management policies Minimum desireable streamflow and TMDL standards Water use reporting and water metering Modified safe yield policies Subbasin water resources management programs Integrated resource planning (City of Wichita)
Conclusions
Equud Beds ASR project phases Phase I: completed in 2007 at a cost of $27 million and a capacity to divert and recharge up to 38 million Liters/day of river water into the aquifer Phase II: consists of 114 million Liters/day of production. Design started in 2008, construction in 2009, to be completed by 2012 Phases III & IV: will include further expansion of treatment and water storage capacity with a goal of 380 million liters/day capacity by 2015
Kansas Water Appropriation (Permit) System Governed by Prior Appropriation Doctrine First in time, first in right, i.e., earlier water-right permits (senior water rights) have priority of use over later waterright permits (junior water rights) in cases of water shortage
Depth to Ground Water Field Collection
WIZARD Well Detailed List (new window) Site Specific Information Measuring Point Info Other Well Identifiers Real Time Hydrograph Measurement History
Adopted Management Programs in Kansas controls on new development regulation of existing development well-spacing requirements annual water use reporting water metering water-supply augmentation public education and involvement