Equus-Walnut Regional Advisory Committee

Current Focus Area

Promote sustainable balance of groundwater withdrawals with annual recharge in the Equus Beds Aquifer. Ensure safe yield and recharge rate calculations in the Equus Beds Aquifer are accurate through a district wide, integrated groundwater and surface water model. Implement and maintain watershed protection activities to maintain regional reservoir storage capacity for an additional 100 and develop a plan to manage and mitigate areas of groundwater contamination.

Guiding Principles

The Equus-Walnut Regional Goal Leadership Team recognizes that education at all levels is the highest priority for long-term success. Proper and adequate funding for educational resources is essential to ensure success in achieving the water supply goals for this region. An overarching goal is that every Kansan in the region should know the water resources in the region, the dangers potentially impacting the resource, and the value of and the actions necessary to protect it. The Goal Leadership Team supports promoting good stewardship, conservation, and improved efficiency, balanced with economic growth, as tools towards achieving the goals of the region.

About the RAC

RAC Planner: Riley Vande Ven

The Equus-Walnut RAC consists of members representing all water users, including public water supply, municipal, agricultural, industrial, and the public at large. View a full list of Equus-Walnut Regional Advisory Committee Membership.

The Equus-Walnut RAC is located in south-central Kansas and covers eleven counties. RAC members meet throughout the year to discuss the vital needs of the region, and to address water resource issues and what projects would most address those needs. The Equus-Walnut RAC has seven previously developed goals and action plans covering important issues which can be found in the complete Equus-Walnut Action Plan. Reference recently approved goals and action plans by the Kansas Water Authority for inclusion within the draft State Water Plan for the Equus-Walnut and other regional planning areas.

State of the Resource

View the Equus-Walnut Fact Sheet.

Regional Activities

Within the Equus-Walnut Region there are currently several activities taking place which are of note to the RAC. These include initiation towards the development of a remediation project to address the Equus Beds chloride plume within the Equus Beds Aquifer, as well as watershed conservation practice implementation and the impacts this work has on reducing the sedimentation rates of reservoirs within the region.

The RAC has also expressed interest in expansion of Water Innovation Systems and Educations (WISE) programs within the region, including farms which evaluate various land management scenarios and effects on nutrients and sediment in adjacent and downstream surface water resources.

Meeting Notes & Presentations