[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 69 (Monday, May 23, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1058-E1059]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          REMARKS FOR H.R. 540

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TODD TIAHRT

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 23, 2005

  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in favor of H.R. 540. This bill 
would authorize the Equus Beds Aquifer recharge project in my district 
that will help meet the water needs of nearly 500,000 people in Kansas. 
This is an environmentally beneficial plan that will help ensure the 
City of Wichita, surrounding smaller communities, agriculture 
irrigators and local industry will have a clean and plentiful water 
supply for decades to come.
  I want to thank Chairman Pombo for his leadership in working with me 
on this important project. Seeking federal authorization for the 
recharge of the Equus Beds Aquifer is something I have worked on for 
many years, and I am grateful to the Chairman and his staff for 
including language contained in my original bill into H.R. 540.
  I also want to thank City of Wichita officials for their efforts in 
helping this project move forward. Their vision to ensure our 
community's water needs are met both now and in the future is extremely 
important. Leadership from Mayor Carlos Mayans along with City Council 
members Carl Brewer, Sue Schlapp, Jim Skelton, Paul Gray, Bob Martz and 
Sharon Fearey will continue to be needed for this project to be a 
success.
  Wichita Water and Sewer Director David Warren and Water Supply 
Projects Administrator Gerald Blain have been especially helpful to me 
and my staff over the years in navigating the details of the recharge 
project. I appreciate their dedication to public service.
  Nearly half a million people depend on the Equus Beds Aquifer and 
Cheney Reservoir to meet their water needs. Without water from the 
Equus Beds, Wichita and surrounding communities would face a serious 
water shortage.
  The Equus Beds Aquifer is the body of water beneath portions of 
Sedgwick, Harvey, McPherson and Reno counties within the boundaries of 
Groundwater Management District Number 2. The aquifer lies under 
900,000 acres, and annual withdrawals from the aquifer average 157,000 
acre feet. Approximately 55 percent of the water is used for 
irrigation; 39 percent is used for municipal needs in Wichita, 
Halstead, Newton, Hutchinson, McPherson and Valley Center; and six 
percent is used by local industry.
  The Equus Beds Aquifer recharge project involves taking floodwater 
from the Little Arkansas River and depositing that excess water into 
the aquifer through water supply wells after going through a filtration 
system.
  Since the 1950's, water levels in the aquifer have dropped 40 feet 
because water rights and pumpage exceed the aquifer's natural recharge 
rate of six inches per year. Due to this over usage, saltwater from the 
southwest and oilfield brine from the northwest are threatening the 
aquifer. When the aquifer levels were higher, the elevated levels 
created a natural barrier that kept the contamination at bay. Now that 
the water levels have dropped, the natural barrier is no longer there. 
If the aquifer is not replenished, the maximum chloride levels will 
eventually exceed what is permitted for both agricultural and municipal 
usage.
  This aquifer recharge project is a win-win project for all the 
communities who depend on its water. The City of Wichita and 
surrounding municipalities benefit because water can be safely stored 
to meet short-term and long-term water supply needs.
  Agriculture irrigators also benefit because the risk of saltwater 
contamination is reduced. Without the natural barrier of an elevated 
water level in the aquifer, the water would eventually become 
contaminated to the point where it would be unsuitable for use even on 
crops. Irrigators should also see reduced costs associated with pumping 
since the water level will rise.
  The Little Arkansas River and its ecosystem also benefit. During 
times of drought, a natural discharge from the Equus Beds Aquifer into 
the river will occur creating a more stable base flow.
  Under the language contained in H.R. 540, the City of Wichita will be 
required to maintain and operate the recharge project, which ensures 
the federal government will not bear costs associated with its ongoing 
operation costs.
  Recharging the Equus Beds is the most cost-efficient means to provide 
water for the greater Wichita area. And it is the best option available 
to keep salt and oilfield brine out of this critical water supply 
without greatly restricting water usage.
  In 2004, Gerald Bain with the City of Wichita testified before the 
House Committee on Resources on the need for federal authorization of 
the recharge project. I am including his testimony with my remarks 
because I think it tells of the water needs faced by our community and 
the many benefits that will come with a recharge of the Equus Beds.
  I urge my colleagues to join me today in voting for H.R. 540. This is 
a good bill that will greatly benefit the people in south-central 
Kansas.
  The 2004 testimony by Gerald T. Blain, P.E.:
  The City of Wichita, Kansas has had water supply wells in the Equus 
Beds Aquifer for over 60 years, and the aquifer has been a major source 
of the City's drinking water. However, because of excess pumping from 
the aquifer by municipal and agricultural users, water levels in the 
aquifer had declined up to 40 feet from their pre-development levels by 
1992. Because of this over development, the Equus Beds aquifer is 
threatened by saltwater contamination from two sources. One source is 
natural saltwater from the Arkansas River located along the southwest 
border of the City's wellfield. The other source is oilfield brine 
contamination left over from the development of oil wells in the 
Burrton area in the 1930's, located northwest of the wellfield.
  Groundwater modeling by the Bureau of Reclamation indicates that the 
chloride levels, which are an indicator of salinity, could exceed 300 
mg/l in much of the wellfield by the year 2050. This would be above the 
250 mg/l standard for drinking water. In order to protect the water 
quality of the area, steps must be taken to retard the movement of the 
salt-water plumes.
  In 1993 the City of Wichita began implementation of a unique 
Integrated Local Water Supply Plan that is intended to meet the City's 
water supply needs through the year 2050. By the year 2050 it is 
projected that the City's water supply needs will almost double what 
they are now. The City's Plan uses a variety of local water resources 
to meet water needs, rather than requiring the City to transfer water 
from a remote reservoir in Northeast Kansas. A key component of the 
Plan includes an Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) project to recharge 
the City's existing wellfield in the Equus Beds Aquifer.
  The excess pumping from the aquifer, and the resulting water level 
decline, has created a storage volume of almost 65 billion gallons that 
can be used to store water. The basic concept of the City's ASR project 
is to capture water from the Little Arkansas River and use it to 
recharge the aquifer. Computer modeling, and past experience at other 
sites throughout the country, has found that by recharging the aquifer 
a hydraulic barrier can be created that would retard the movement of 
the salt-water plumes. In addition, the 65 billion gallons that could 
be stored in the dewatered portion of the aquifer could be used as a 
component of the City's water supply.
  Unfortunately, all of the ``conventional'' water rights in the Little 
Arkansas River have already been allocated. However, excess flows in 
the river, which occur only after it rains or snows, have not been 
allocated. Computer modeling has predicted that there are enough days 
of excess flow that enough water can be captured to allow the aquifer 
to be recharged and become a valuable component of

[[Page E1059]]

the City's water supply. The modeling predicts that if the City builds 
an ASR system with the capacity to capture up to 100 million gallons 
per day, that it would still capture only a fraction of the water 
flowing down the river, and it would not have a negative impact on the 
river.
  The City intends to capture water from the river using two 
techniques, either by using ``bank storage'' wells or by pumping 
directly from the river. ``Bank Storage'' wells take advantage of a 
unique geological condition that occurs along the river. As the river 
rises above the base flow, water is temporarily stored in the river's 
banks, but as the flow in the river declines, the water in the banks 
discharges back into the river. The City intends to drill wells 
adjacent to the river that will capture ``bank storage'' water and 
induce river water to replace the water pumped.
  The City recognized that some of the concepts included in the 
proposed ASR project have not been done before, so to prove the 
feasibility of those concepts the City completed a 5-year Demonstration 
Project. During the Demonstration Project, which was done in 
partnership with the Bureau of Reclamation and the US Geological 
Survey, the City constructed a full-scale well adjacent to the Little 
Arkansas River, a river intake and a water treatment plant, and a 
variety of recharge facilities. To prove that the recharge project was 
safe, over 4,000 water samples were collected and analyzed for up to 
400 different potential contaminates. During the Demonstration Project 
over one billion gallons of water were successfully recharged into the 
aquifer, and the City was able to prove that excess flows in the Little 
Arkansas River could be captured and recharged, and that it can be done 
without harming the aquifer.

  The full-scale ASR project, which will be constructed in phases, will 
capture and recharge up to 100 million gallons per day, and will cost 
approximately $137 million. All of the water that will be recharged 
into the aquifer must meet drinking water standards, and will be 
monitored and regulated by the Kansas Department of Health and 
Environment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  Normally, when surface water is developed for a water resource, it 
requires the construction of a reservoir. A reservoir that would 
provide the same storage as this ASR project would probably consume 
around 25,000 to 30,000 acres of prime farmland. It is projected that 
the ASR project will use less than 400 acres of farmland.
  The City of Wichita and others believe that the ASR project is a Win-
Win project, because it appears that all of the stakeholders receive 
benefits from the projects. As a result of this project:
  The City develops a water supply source that will allow it to meet 
its water supply needs through the year 2050.
  The water quality of the wellfield is protected from salt-water 
contamination.
  There is no requirement to curtail irrigation to restore water levels 
and protect water quality.
  Irrigators will have lower pumping costs because water levels will be 
higher.
  Low flows in the Little Arkansas River will improve, because 
additional water will ``leak'' from the Equus Beds back into the river.
  The project uses less land than any other surface water development 
project.
  The City has already implemented some components of the Integrated 
Local Water Supply Plan, including implementation of a water rate 
structure designed to reduce water consumption, and a greater emphasis 
on using water from Cheney Reservoir, and a corresponding reduction in 
water pumped from the Equus Beds. That alteration in water use has 
already allowed water levels in the Equus Beds to rise over 20 feet in 
some areas.
  Phase I of the ASR Project, which is currently being designed, will 
have the capacity to capture and recharge up to 10 million gallons per 
day of water from the Little Arkansas River by using Bank Storage 
wells. The location of the first recharge facilities is intended to 
begin the formation of a hydraulic barrier to the movement of salt-
water plume from the Burrton area. It will take almost 10 years to 
construct the entire full-scale project.
  The City believes that this project represents a new approach to 
developing water resources, while at the same time protecting an 
existing water resource from contamination. The City of Wichita 
therefore urges support for federal assistance for this unique project.

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