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Featured Article
Senate Bill No. 316
Signed by the Governor
As we do every year, GMD3 staff was busy making sure the interests of our members in SW Kansas were heard during the legislative session. Even though the main focus for this Legislative session was the budget, there were still a lot of water issues on the agenda as well.
One such item was Senate Bill No. 316, which was recently signed by the Governor. This bill was an amendment to K.S.A. 82a-718, which deals with the issue of abandonment if a water right is not put to beneficial use without due and sufficient cause.
It is the duty of the Chief Engineer to notify, by certified mail, a water user that there has been no reported water use for three successive years. After five successive years of nonuse, there must be a hearing to determine if the water right is abandoned or not. At this point it is the responsibility of the water user to prove that there was an acceptable due and sufficient cause for nonuse during that five year period.
SB 316 amended a section of KSA 82a-718 to read as follows:
K.S.A. 82a-718(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), a groundwater right, which has as its local supply an aquifer area that has been closed to new appropriations by rule, regulation or order of the chief engineer and where means of diversion are available to put water to a beneficial use within a reasonable time, shall be deemed to have due and sufficient cause for nonuse and shall not be deemed abandoned.
This means that if you are in a closed township, which most of our District is, your well can not be deemed abandoned as long as the well can be pumped for beneficial use within a reasonable amount of time.
For further clarification and questions, please contact our office at your convenience. |
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UPCOMING MEETING
Regular Board Meeting Rescheduled
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
9:00 a.m.
2009 E.Spruce St.
Garden City, Ks |
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Ark River Water Festival
Jason Norquest teaches young water users how a well works. 
Ark River Water Festival was held at Charles Stones Intermediate Center and Bernadine Sitts Intermediate Center. Surrounding region schools attended the fun filled event and learned about the value of groundwater, water conservation and how to protect our natural resources. Along with the importance of safety awareness, electric, oil and gas safety issues, just to name a few.
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Earth Day Celebration
 Lee Richardson Zoo held a celebration for Earth Day on April 22nd, 2010. Over 1,500 kids were in attendance for the rainy day event. Kids learned of water uses and groundwater supply.
Erin Fitzpatrick and Chris Law guide the youngster in a water game. |
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GOING WITH THE FLOW...
When a flowmeter is failing, whether it be completely not working or showing signs of failure (totalizer numbers jumping around, moisture in the meter, etc), action should be taken as soon as possible to address the problem. While this does require a little time and possible expense, the potential consequences of putting it off are too significant to ignore.
A water user can do several things on-site at the time a problem is noticed. If your register is turning you can time your flowmeter to determine the gallons per minute (gpm) rate at which it is registering water use. If this rate is different than what you expected then the flowmeter should be checked further by an authorized repair person or flow tested on-site to determine actual flow versus flowmeter accuracy. State law (K.A.R. 5-1-9(a)) requires flowmeters to be within plus or minus 6 percent accuracy at all times. Two GMD3 staff members are certified and experienced in water flowmeter tests and there is no charge to district members.
If the register is not working the flowmeter should be removed from the pipe and the date, time and totalizer reading recorded for future reference. You may discover debris or sand and gravel to be interfering with the propeller. If this is the case and the propeller seems to turn freely then reinstall the flowmeter and if the register is turning, time it. You can then make a determination about whether or not the flowmeter needs to be checked and repaired.
Moisture inside a meter or a cracked lens may not be currently affecting the meter but they will eventually. Once again you can time your meter to determine what it is currently registering and make a decision about whether to remove the meter right away or wait until the next time you are shut off.
Digital display flowmeters show total water use and corresponding gpm without any need for further calculation. But they must be powered up and a digital flowmeter that is not displaying is considered non-compliant. Power and the quantities being displayed may be the most important things to check with a digital meter.
Regardless of the reason why a flowmeter is not working properly it is important to have backup data that accurately tracks water use. Recording the date, time and meter reading when a meter stops working will help you to complete a repair form and track water use (if any) while a flowmeter is being repaired. State law (K.A.R. 5-1-10) requires that the chief engineer be notified of a flowmeter repair or replacement within 30 days and that certain pieces of information are included. Both DWR and GMD3 have a simple form for this.
Next Month: Timing a flowmeter
At GMD3 we are committed to assisting water users with beneficial use and conservation of this most vital resource. If you have any questions, topics you would like to see covered or would like to discuss flowmeters or other water issues, please don't hesitate to contact us. |
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Thank you so much,
GMD3 Staff,
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