Printable Format82a-1020. Legislative declaration. It is hereby recognized that a need exists for the creation of special districts for the proper management of the groundwater resources of the state; for the conservation of groundwater resources; for the prevention of economic deterioration; for associated endeavors within the state of Kansas through the stabilization of agriculture; and to secure for Kansas the benefit of its fertile soils and favorable location with respect to national and world markets. It is the policy of this act to preserve basic water use doctrine and to establish the right of local water users to determine their destiny with respect to the use of the groundwater insofar as it does not conflict with the basic laws and policies of the state of Kansas. It is, therefore, declared that in the public interest it is necessary and advisable to permit the establishment of groundwater management districts.
History: L. 1972, ch. 386, ยง 1; July 1.
Law Review and Bar Journal References:
Note on the water depletion deduction in Kansas, 25 K.L.R. 453, 460 (1977).
"Kansas Water Rights: More Recent Developments," Arno Windscheffel, 47 J.B.A.K. 217, 222 (1978).
"Kansas Groundwater Management Districts," John C. Peck, 29 K.L.R. 51, 52, 54, 62, 66 (1980).
"Kansas Water Appropriation Statutes and the Oil and Gas Industry in Kansas," Eva N. Neufeld, 50 J.B.A.K. 43, 50 (1981).
"Riparian Property Rights: Kansas Law of Riparian Ownership," Blaise R. Plummer, 21 W.L.J. 96, 97 (1981).
"Legal Constraints on Diverting Water from Eastern Kansas to Western Kansas," John C. Peck, 30 K.L.R. 160, 167, 168, 175, 202, 206, 211, 212 (1982).
"Groundwater Pollution I: The Problem and the Law," Robert L. Glicksman, George Cameron Coggins, 35 K.L.R. 75, 145 (1986).
"High Noon on the Ogallala Aquifer: Agriculture Does Not Live by Farmland Preservation Alone," Myrl L. Duncan, 27 W.L.J. 16, 52, 64, 77, 92 (1987).
"The Kansas Water Appropriation Act: A Fifty-Year Perspective," John C. Peck, 43 K.L.R. 735, 752 (1995).
"Assessing the Quality of a Water Right," John C. Peck, 70 J.K.B.A. No. 5, 26 (2001).
"Property Rights in Groundwater - Some Lessons from the Kansas Experience," John C. Peck, XII Kan. J.L. Pub Pol'y No. III, 493 (2003).
"Does Groundwater Management Work?" Burke W. Griggs, 15 Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y, No. 3, 391 (2006).
"Groundwater Management in Kansas: A Brief History and Assessment," John C. Peck, 15 Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y, No. 3, 441 (2006).
"Kansas Groundwater Management Districts: A Lawyer's Perspective," Michael K. Ramsey, 15 Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y, No. 3, 517 (2006).
"Management of the Equus Beds Aquifer in Southcentral Kansas: Are We Measuring Up?" Michael T. Dealy, 15 Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y, No. 3, 525 (2006).
"Groundwater Management in GMD4: Has It Succeeded?" Wayne Bossert, 15 Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y, No. 3, 541 (2006).
"Comparative Water Law and Management: The Yellow River Basin in Western China and The State of Kansas in the Western United States," Burke W. Griggs, John C. Peck and Xue Yumpeng, 18 Kan. J. L. & Pub Pol'y, No. 3, 428 (2009).
Attorney General's Opinions:
Groundwater management district; eligible voter. 89-3.
Groundwater management district powers; annual assessment against landowners; reduction of district; disposition of funds. 89-23.
Organization meeting to elect initial groundwater management district board members; annual meeting of eligible voters. 91-17.
Designation of intensive groundwater use control areas; initiation of proceedings; duties of chief engineer; findings; powers; home office. 92-97.
On own initiative, Chief Engineer may establish intensive groundwater use control area within boundaries of groundwater management district. 2002-24.
Groundwater management district; disposition of excess land; purchase of water right to retire same. 2004-16.
CASE ANNOTATIONS
1. Cited in holding Water Appropriation Act does not violate constitutional requirements for taking of property. F. Arthur Stone & Sons v. Gibson, 230 K. 224, 236, 239, 630 P.2d 1154 (1981).
2. Strong public interest in groundwater management cited in a retaliatory discharge case. Shaw v. Southwest Kan. Groundwater Mgt. Dist. 3, 42 K.A.2d 994, 219 P.3d 857 (2009).