2022 Governor's Water Conference Agenda

Roger Pulwarty, Senior Scientist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), PDF Presentation

Afternoon Breakout Sessions

Current Events: Drought
Moderator: Doug Kluck, NOAA

• Michael Sheer, Hazen and Sawyer
• Ryan Larsen, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Northwestern Division
• Jim Butler, Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas
• Kevin Low, National Weather Service

Regenerative Agriculture to Restore Kansas Resources
Moderator: Angela Anderson, Kansas Water Office

• Andy Lyon, Kansas Dept. of Agriculture, Division of Conservation
• Eric Fuchs, Understanding Ag
• Michael Thompson, Soil Health Alliance

Kansas Water Challenges from a Utility Perspective
Moderator: Tracy Streeter, Burns & McDonnell

• Toby Dougherty, City Manager, City of Hays
• Matt Allen, City Manager, Garden City
• Steve Shute, Vice-Mayor, City of Gardner
  

Groundwater Issues: Nitrate and Water Quality
Moderator: Tom Stiles, Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment

• Fred Jones, City of Garden City
• Mike Schultz, Upper Republican RAC
• Rob Gavin, Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment
  

Concurrent Session I

Surface Water Issues

Moderator: Elizabeth Smith, Kansas Dept. of Health & Environment

• Aquatic Nuisance Species - Status, Impacts, and Opportunities in Kansas; Chris Steffen, Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks
  
• Utilizing the SWAT model & machine learning for predicting microcystin & geosmin occurrence in Cheney Reservoir; Chen Liang, University of Kansas
• Reconstructing historical water quality patterns in large Kansas reservoirs; Ted Harris, Kansas Biological Survey, University of Kansas; Jennifer Moody, Kansas Biological Survey, University of Kansas

Education and Outreach

Moderator: Laura Downey, Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education

• Unifying Water Buckets with Knowledge -- Improving Water Quality & Water Conservation; Stacie Minson, KCARE; Holly Dickman, City of Hays
  
• The Arc of Kansas Water Policy: Oral History Interviews; Rex Buchanan, Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas

Water and Human Health

Moderator: Tatiana Lin, Kansas Health Institute

• Lessons learned from a voluntary drinking water testing project with schools and childcare facilities; Brian Bohnsack, Wichita State University
• A Movement for Clean Water in Kansas Schools; Jenna Gorton, Community Action; Tanya Dorf Brunner, Oral Health Kansas
• Empathy and the Impact of Utility Rates on Customers; Michelle DeHaven, Wichita State University
  

Groundwater Conservation Measures

Moderator: Lane Letourneau, Kansas Dept. of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources

• Preferences for Groundwater Management: A Survey of Kansas Irrigators; Nathan Hendricks, Kansas State University
• Are groundwater conservation management areas in the High Plains aquifer truly saving water; Donald O. Whittemore, Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas
• GMD 1’s Proposed Four County LEMA; Katie Durham, Groundwater Management District 1; Mark Callender, Groundwater Management District 1
  

Sedimentation in Reservoirs

Moderator: Laura Totten, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

• How Reservoir Sedimentation Changes the Future of Water in Kansas: Results from the Kansas River Reservoir Flood and Sediment Study; John Shelly, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Update on the Tuttle Creek Lake Water Injection Dredging (WID) Demonstration; Josh Olson, Kansas Water Office
• North Carolina Ports Water Injection Dredging (WID) Results and Implications for Research and Development at Tuttle Creek; Zachary Tyler, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)
  

Concurrent Session II

Arkansas River Basin Water Quality Issues Panel

Moderator: Susan Metzger, Kansas Center for Agricultural Resources and the Environment and the Kansas Water Resources Institute

• Derek White, Colorado farmer
• Jonathan Aguliar, Kansas State University
• Tom Stiles, Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment
• Nicole Rowan, Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment
• Steve Frost, Kansas Dept. of Agriculture
• Cindy Lair, Colorado Dept. of Agriculture
• Frank Mercurio, Syracuse Dairy
• Fred Jones, City of Garden City
• Donald O. Whittemore, Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas
  

Groundwater Modeling

Moderator: Richard Rockel, Kansas Water Office

• Recharge enhancement in depleting aquifers: Delay of drainage by low-permeability sediment; Gaisheng Liu, Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas
• Three-Dimensional Model of the Kansas River Valley from Drillers’ Logs; Geoffrey Bohling, Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas
• Evaluating groundwater conservation using emerging remotely sensed products; Sam Zipper, Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas
  

Flood Data and Mapping Tools

Moderator: Joanna Rohlf, Kansas Dept. of Agriculture

• Visualizing Flood, Drought, and Fire from one tool: The Rapid Image Viewer; Kenneth Ekpetere, University of Kansas
• Lower Missouri River: Flood Risk Data for the Future; Will Zung, Stantec; Anish Pradhananga, Stantec
• It’s Finally Here: A Live Flood Mapping Tool for Kansas; Jude Kastens, Kansas Biological Survey, University of Kansas
  

Emerging Issues

Moderator: Carrie Ridley, Kansas Geological Survey

• Produced Water Reuse and Recovery in Kansas: Assessing our Options; Edward Peltier, University of Kansas
  
• Water Implications of the Energy Transition Away from Emitting Carbon Dioxide; Franek Hasiuk, Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas
  

Stream Erosion and it's Impacts

Moderator: Andy Klein, Kansas Forest Service

• Using Low-Tech, Process-Based, In-stream Structures to Restore Incised Streams and Riparian Ecosystems; Huy Le, Juniper Environmental
• Marysville Dam Failure; Michael Mansfield, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District
• Impacts to Recreation from Sedimentation in the Kansas River Basin; Jennifer Henggeler, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District

Mini-Concurrent Session III

Playa Lakes in Kansas

Moderator: Mike Carter, Playa Lakes Joint Venture

• Evaluating Playas in Western Kansas: Recharge to the High Plains aquifer and Economics of Cropping; Tony Layzell, Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas; Jude Kastens, Kansas Biological Survey, University of Kansas
• Kansas Wetlands & The Kansas Water Initiative; Matthew Hough, Ducks Unlimited, Inc.; Jim Pitman, Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
  

Crops in a Changing Climate

Moderator: Sarah Sexton-Bowser, Kansas State University

• DropXL Sorghum: Developing Water Optimized Sorghum for Kansas using drone imagery and data driven approaches; Md Adbullah Al Bari, Kansas State University; Sarah Sexton-Bowser, Kansas State University
• Managing cropping systems for stability in the face of climate variability; Lucas Haag, Kansas State University
  

Municipal Water Supply

Moderator: Brad Mears, Kansas Municipal Utilities

• Current Status and Projects of the Drinking Water Protection (DWP) Program at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment; Logan M. Smith, Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment
• Municipal Water Project Planning & Implementation in an Unprecedented Environment; Jake White, Burns & McDonnell; Brian Meier, Burns & McDonnell
  

Hydrologic Trends in Kansas

Moderator: Sam Zipper, Kansas Geological Survey

• Long-Term Water-Quality Constituent Concentrations, Loads, and Trends in the Little Arkansas River, South-Central Kansas, 1995–2021; Mandy Stone, U.S. Geological Survey; Brian Klager, U.S. Geological Survey
• Technical Assistance and Western Kansas: The Wild West of Hydrology; Lori Schrader, Stantec; Tara Lanzrath, KS Dept. of Agriculture
  

Management Techniques for Groundwater

Moderator: Tim Boese, Groundwater Management District 2

• Flickner Innovation Farm: Growing for the Future; Ray Flickner, Flickner Farms
• Feasibility of Augmenting Streamflow on Rattlesnake Creek from Pumped Groundwater; Colby Osborn, Olsson