The Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources has begun the formal review of the Walnut Creek Intensive Groundwater Use Control Area (IGUCA). The Walnut Creek IGUCA was established in 1992 to address streamflow declines in Walnut Creek and groundwater declines in the Walnut Creek alluvium.
The
Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources has begun the
formal review of the Walnut Creek Intensive Groundwater Use Control Area
(IGUCA). The Walnut Creek IGUCA was established in 1992 to address streamflow
declines in Walnut Creek and groundwater declines in the Walnut Creek alluvium.
Regulation requires
that a review is held to determine whether the public interest indicates that
the IGUCA designation should be continued, and if so, whether there should be
any adjustments to the IGUCA’s corrective control provisions.
The review process
has three main phases. First, KDA–DWR will gather data, analyze the performance
of the IGUCA, and draft a report; KDA–DWR expects to publish a draft report for
public review and comment by December 31, 2021. Then a final report with
recommendations will be published in February 2022. Finally, KDA–DWR will hold
a public hearing in the spring of 2022.
Due to the timing
of the review and hearing process, KDA–DWR does not expect that this review
will affect the calculation and assignment of 2022-2026 water allocations for
water right holders within the Walnut Creek IGUCA.
KDA–DWR maintains a
webpage dedicated to the Walnut Creek IGUCA at agriculture.ks.gov/WCIGUCA.