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Water on the High Plains
Water issues on board's minds
And there's more data being compiled on the Ogallala Aquifer, and the bottom line is that the withdrawal that's being taken from the Ogallala is not sustainable, but there's not been anyone who's come forward with a plan on how to slow that down and how to make that water sustainable, so it's a huge problem for the western Kansas population and the state of Kansas.
Irsik says the groundwater management districts are the first line of defense for the Ogallala Aquifer in western Kansas. He says increased management of the aquifer is going to have to come from initiatives of those districts. They are working on issues, but Irsik doesn't expect to see a specific plan at this meeting, just ideas. Irsik explains this issue can have two view points.
Whether it's oil or gas or water or whatever, if it's just below the ground and you're not using it there's not much value. So if you pump it out of the ground and put it to beneficial use and you create value. So there are some that think these water rights are a property right granted by the state of Kansas and those property rights can't be reduced and that we need to go forward and continue pumping and put that water to use. And there are some that think we need to slow down the pumping, and if you do that you might start to cut into a property right.
This is just one of the many issues the Kansas Water Authority will discuss in its meeting. The featured speaker will update the authority on Abengoa Bioenergy's upcoming biomass plant in Hugoton. Abengoa's Dr. Tom Robb says the plant will turn materials like perennial grasses and forage sorghum into ethanol and electricity.
The plant itself will be entirely run on biomass. We will generate about 16 million gallons of ethanol a year from that biomass as well as we will be generating electricity from combustion of biomass on a boiler system and putting electricity back out on the grid. We'll be putting about 70 megawatts out on the grid.
Robb expects construction to begin mid next year and for the plant to be operational by mid 2012. Robb says it will take 2500 tons per day of biomass to make the facility operate, which is close to 850,000 tons annually. The plant's expected impact on water use was addressed in its environmental impact survey.
The way it was looked at was prime farmland that can no longer be irrigated because we will be using water for our process and it came out to be a miniscule percentage of the prime farmland that will be impacted in Stevens County. And the assessment was that that was a minimal impact and not significant.
He thinks long term they could see an overall good impact on water use in the area, especially those they're obtaining feed stock from because the plant is looking towards using those dedicated energy crops like perennial grasses that are more drought tolerant and use less water than corn or soybeans. The Kansas Water Authority meeting begins at Seward Community College at one thirty today and will be completed tomorrow. For the full meeting materials visit www kwo dot org and on click the link KWA meeting materials on the righthand side of the page. I'm Lindsey Fields, HPPR News.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
(2009-11-17)
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LIBERAL, KAN.
(hppr) -
A continuing issue for the citizen-led division of the Kansas Water office is the sustainability of the Ogallala Aquifer. Water Authority Chairman Steve Irsik says too much water is being pulled from the Ogallala.
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And there's more data being compiled on the Ogallala Aquifer, and the bottom line is that the withdrawal that's being taken from the Ogallala is not sustainable, but there's not been anyone who's come forward with a plan on how to slow that down and how to make that water sustainable, so it's a huge problem for the western Kansas population and the state of Kansas.
Irsik says the groundwater management districts are the first line of defense for the Ogallala Aquifer in western Kansas. He says increased management of the aquifer is going to have to come from initiatives of those districts. They are working on issues, but Irsik doesn't expect to see a specific plan at this meeting, just ideas. Irsik explains this issue can have two view points.
Whether it's oil or gas or water or whatever, if it's just below the ground and you're not using it there's not much value. So if you pump it out of the ground and put it to beneficial use and you create value. So there are some that think these water rights are a property right granted by the state of Kansas and those property rights can't be reduced and that we need to go forward and continue pumping and put that water to use. And there are some that think we need to slow down the pumping, and if you do that you might start to cut into a property right.
This is just one of the many issues the Kansas Water Authority will discuss in its meeting. The featured speaker will update the authority on Abengoa Bioenergy's upcoming biomass plant in Hugoton. Abengoa's Dr. Tom Robb says the plant will turn materials like perennial grasses and forage sorghum into ethanol and electricity.
The plant itself will be entirely run on biomass. We will generate about 16 million gallons of ethanol a year from that biomass as well as we will be generating electricity from combustion of biomass on a boiler system and putting electricity back out on the grid. We'll be putting about 70 megawatts out on the grid.
Robb expects construction to begin mid next year and for the plant to be operational by mid 2012. Robb says it will take 2500 tons per day of biomass to make the facility operate, which is close to 850,000 tons annually. The plant's expected impact on water use was addressed in its environmental impact survey.
The way it was looked at was prime farmland that can no longer be irrigated because we will be using water for our process and it came out to be a miniscule percentage of the prime farmland that will be impacted in Stevens County. And the assessment was that that was a minimal impact and not significant.
He thinks long term they could see an overall good impact on water use in the area, especially those they're obtaining feed stock from because the plant is looking towards using those dedicated energy crops like perennial grasses that are more drought tolerant and use less water than corn or soybeans. The Kansas Water Authority meeting begins at Seward Community College at one thirty today and will be completed tomorrow. For the full meeting materials visit www kwo dot org and on click the link KWA meeting materials on the righthand side of the page. I'm Lindsey Fields, HPPR News.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
