LB 701 Amendment 872
WaterClaim believes that there needs to be several significant revisions to Amendment 872 to Senator Mark Christensen’s water bill LB 701 before we can support it. WaterClaim will work with the Senators on the committee to point out those problems and will work to find adjustments that can make the Amendment workable. Amendment 872 was written by the DNR and NRDs and being proposed under senator Louden's name.
In general, the problems with the Amendment include the following:
1. There is no provision to assure that, even with all of the money the tax payers of the Basin are being forced to pay, this will resolve the problem with Kansas. The NRDs are not held accountable for how they spend the largest tax increase in the history of the Basin. It is possible that they can spend the money on things that will not fix the problem.
2. Over the 20 year bond period, the cost to the Basin will be somewhere in the neighborhood of about $200 million and to the State about $15 million.
3. Ann Bleed has said that, under all scenarios, the irrigators of the Basin will be required to reduce their allocations. It doesn’t matter how much water is purchased, irrigators must still reduce allocations on top of all of the other things they have done and are doing.
4. The NRDs of the Basin are encouraged to fight each other for lower costs and a greater share of the water. The amendment should work to reduce or eliminate problems, not create new ones.
5. There are major unanswered questions in the computer simulation that is used to govern the Basin. We believe these questions highlight probable flaws in how the simulation was designed. If the flaws are corrected, everything this bill allows to happen will become moot and may even create more problems.
6. There is nothing to stop new declines in run off to the stream by new conservation practices that the State helps facilitate.
7. The residents in the Basin have done everything the State has required of them and yet they are being asked to pay more than 90% of the costs plus make significant changes which reduce their ability to pay.
WaterClaim believes that there is yet time to address these major shortcomings and create a bill that will satisfy the requirements we have to Kansas.