1. Kansas Water Management & The Farm Bill
Arkansas River, Garden City, KS
Kansas Water Management & The Farm Bill
CRWUA
December 14, Las Vegas, NV

2. Farm Bill Titles I – Commodities VII – Research & Extension
II – Conservation
III - Trade
IV - Nutrition
V - Credit
VI – Rural Development
VII – Research & Extension
VIII – Forestry
IX – Energy
X – Horticulture
XI – Crop Insurance
XII – Miscellaneous

3. Key Titles: Commodities, Conservation and Crop Insurance
Commodity
Yield-based policy can dis-incentivize conservation
Conservation
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)
Ogallala Aquifer Initiative
Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)
Continuous CRP
Crop Insurance
Fully irrigated or dryland options only
Limited irrigation options offered on case-by-case basis

4. EQIP $46 million spent in last 3 FYs in Kansas
Affecting nearly a quarter million acres
Key Resource Concerns
Water quantity
Water quality
Confined animal feeding operations
Grazing lands
Reservoir sedimentation
State Technical Committee Guidance
State priorities a key component in project ranking criteria

5. EQIP Ranking Criteria Water Conservation/Quantity Water Quality
Local and state plans prioritized
Water Conservation Areas
Local Enhanced Management Areas
Intensive Groundwater Use Control Areas
Water Quality
Reservoir Sedimentation
Nutrients
TMDLs

6. RCPP Irrigation Technology Targeted watershed protection Forestry
Interstate collaboration
Harmful alagae blooms

7. CRP CREP for water right retirement
Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado all have CREPs
Kansas
Arkansas River
Nebraska and Colorado
Republican River
Platte River

9. Ark River CREP 15 year CRP contracts
$153-$193 per year CRP payment
Permanent vegetation required
$53-$97 upfront state bonus payment
Water right permanently dismissed
19,000 acres enrolled
Water rights totalling 38,000 acre-feet dismissed
National CRP acreage cap currently limiting pending acres from being enrolled
Allowin

10. Farm Bill Needs Continue appropriations for conservation title
Increase CRP acreage cap
Allow dryland farming at reduced rental rate on CREPs retiring groundwater rights
Technical assistance increases (non-farm bill)