TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly announced today that Kansas is receiving $9 million in federal Inflation Control Act funding for two projects aimed at alleviating the effects of drought.
“Decades of over-expropriation and frequent droughts have left communities across Kansas in crisis,” Governor Laura Kelly said in a statement. “These projects will support our efforts to increase the quality and quantity of water in our state.”
The Kansas Equus Beds Aquifer Recharge, Storage and Recovery Project near Wichita will receive $7 million. It is a critical source of water for more than 20% of Kansas’ municipal, industrial, and irrigation water users.
The Kansas Voluntary Agreement Program was selected to receive $2 million for the Kansas Water Transition Assistance Program that the state implements in the Prairie Dog Creek or Rattlesnake Creek watersheds.
Once fully implemented, the Equus project will recharge the Equus Beds aquifer and provide up to 100 million gallons of water per day to Wichita through injection and infiltration of the Little Arkansas River distributary into the south-central Kansas aquifer. will be supplied. The Kansas Water Rights Transition Assistance Program conserves approximately 10,000 acre-feet by rotating land temporarily fallow or permanently retiring water rights.
Governor Kelly advocated for extending federal water funding to Kansas to help family farms and ranches, small towns, and wildlife avoid the effects of severe and irreversible drought.
Congresswoman Sharice Davids voted in favor of the Inflation Control Act and supported additional federal funding for these projects.
“I am happy to see funding from the Inflation Control Act returned to Kansas,” said Rep. Sharice Davids (KS-O3). “The effects of the ongoing drought are an ongoing threat across the state. This investment will support the work that farmers are doing to protect the livelihoods of Kansans and feed the world. , an important step toward protecting the economic security of towns across Kansas.”
This announcement builds on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act’s approximately $33 million investment to date in aging infrastructure, water recycling, and WaterSMART projects in Kansas.
The Inflation Control Act includes a total of $550 million for domestic water supply projects and $4 billion for water conservation and ecosystem projects in the Colorado River Basin and other regions experiencing similar levels of long-term drought. I am. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation has announced 222 drought mitigation projects and 16 domestic water supply projects totaling more than $2.5 billion in Inflation Control Act funds.
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