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BLACK & VEATCH |
Memo
To: Roger Coffey, Chris Stewart
From: Jeff Henson, Mike Orth
Date: September 9, 2004
Re: Available Water Supplies and Forecasted Water System Demands
As requested, this memorandum provides a brief summary of the water supplies available to meet the City of Lawrence’s forecasted demands through year 2050. For additional detail, refer to Section II – Water Supply and Section I – General of the 2003 Water Master Plan.
I. Water Rights
The City of Lawrence obtains its water supply from the Kansas River, Kansas River Alluvium, and the Clinton Reservoir through the following water contracts expressed in millions of gallons per day (mgd):
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Sources Currently Supplying Kaw Water Treatment Plant |
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Contract Number |
Status of Right |
Average Annual Day (AD) Quantity (mgd) |
Maximum Day (MD) Diversion Rate (mgd) |
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Kansas River Surface Water Rights |
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DG002 |
Vested |
1.53 |
6.62 |
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2019 |
Appropriated |
8.00 |
10.00 |
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44954 |
Approved |
22.3 |
44.90 |
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Existing Groundwater Rights |
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DG-001 |
Vested |
0.69 |
1.15 |
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2019-A |
Appropriated |
0.58 |
0.87 |
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9811 |
Appropriated |
0.27 |
0.53 |
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26315 |
Appropriated |
0.39 |
0.46 |
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26315 |
Appropriated |
0.37 |
0.48 |
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Subtotal |
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1.86(1) |
3.49 |
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Total – Surface & Groundwater(2) |
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22.3 |
48.39 |
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Notes: 1. Water right 26315 limits the annual quantity from all groundwater rights to 2082.75 ac-ft/yr or 1.86 mgd. 2. The newest water right application (No. 44954) includes a provision that limits the total water diverted under the existing surface water right, existing groundwater rights, and the new surface rights to a maximum annual average day volume of 22.3 mgd and the maximum diversion rate to 44.9 mgd plus the 3.49 mgd groundwater rights for a maximum diversion rate of 48.39 mgd. |
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A vested right is the right to continue the beneficial use of water that was established prior to June 28, 1945, which established the Kansas Water Appropriation Act. The Act established precedence for water use and operates on the principal of prior appropriation or “first in time is first in right”. Therefore, in times of water shortage, use of a water right may be curtailed, starting with the most junior right first. An appropriated right is a permit issued for a proposed use that serves the general good of the public. An appropriated right may be perfected by construction of diversion works and the use of the water for the proposed beneficial use in accordance with the terms, conditions, and limitation of the right. An approved right is similar to an appropriated right, except that the use of the water has not been satisfactorily demonstrated or “perfected”.
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Sources Currently Supplying Clinton Water Treatment Plant |
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Contract Number |
Status of Contract |
Average Annual Day (AD) Quantity (mgd) |
Maximum Day (MD) Diversion Rate (mgd) |
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Clinton Reservoir Water Rights |
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77-1 |
In-effect(2) |
9.5 |
25.0 |
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90-5(1) |
In-effect(2) |
3.52 |
25.0 |
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Total |
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13.02 |
25.0 |
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Notes: 1. Before any water supply can be utilized under this right, 100 percent of the water supply under Contract Number 77-1 must be utilized. 2. Each contract is 40 years in length and 77-1 was signed in 1977 while 90-5 was signed in 1990. |
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Provisions within the 77-1 contract allow the State to reduce the contract volume of the City to provide for the health, safety, and general welfare of the people as determined by the State. The original contract between the Kansas Water Office (KWO) and the City of Lawrence has already been reduced by approximately 0.5 mgd. Additionally, the KWO initiated a process to provide a rural water district with additional water from Clinton Reservoir via a reduction of the Lawrence contract volume. This has been settled at this time and no reduction will occur. The point being, is that the State has the authority to consider other requests for water from Clinton Reservoir and consider reductions in current contracts (if not being used) to provide water to other entities.
In reviewing the total available water from Clinton Reservoir and the Kansas River, the City of Lawrence has approval to divert an AD withdrawal for a year of 35.32 mgd and a MD withdrawal of 73.39 mgd combining all the City’s water contracts.
II. Water Demands
Water demands for year 2050 were forecasted in the Water System Master Plan. The forecasted average day is approximately 36 mgd while the maximum day is approximately 79 mgd. Refer to the attached figure showing that the forecasted demands begin to exceed the current water rights and contract volume amounts as we near 2050.
III. Kansas River Supplies
The Kansas River Water Assurance District (KRWAD) was created in 1989 to manage water in the Kansas River. The KRWAD objective is to assure that the members have adequate supply to meet current and long-term needs. Lawrence and the other entities with water contracts on the river are members of KRWAD. Every five years, the members update an operations agreement defining rules for making releases from Milford, Tuttle Creek, and Perry reservoirs to meet member demands.
Within the member agreement, each user provides current and forecasted demands over the next 20 years. The current use is 95 mgd and the forecasted use is 194 mgd as of the draft agreement dated August 19, 2002. The following table summarizes the projected yield estimates from KRWAD for the reservoirs:
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Reservoir |
Current Yield (mgd) |
Yield after Sediment Allocation is Filled (mgd) |
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Assurance District Yields(1) |
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Milford |
25 |
20 |
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Tuttle Creek |
216 |
89 |
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Perry |
18 |
13 |
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Total |
259 |
122 |
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Set-Aside Pool(2) |
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Milford |
27 |
22 |
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Tuttle Creek |
0 |
0 |
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Perry |
11 |
8 |
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Total |
38 |
30 |
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Uncommitted Storage(3) |
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Milford |
63 |
51 |
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Tuttle Creek |
46 |
19 |
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Perry |
79 |
58 |
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Total |
188 |
128 |
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Total |
485 |
280 |
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Notes: 1. Current water rights managed by KRWAD. 2. KRWAD has first right to negotiate for the set-aside pool prior to December 31, 2020. 3. KRWAD includes all major water users currently on the Kansas River and there is still uncommitted storage in the reservoirs. KRWAD does not have any beneficial right to this water and must compete with any future requests for this water. |
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The forecasted yields, even when considering sedimentation, indicate that there is a sufficient supply in the Kansas River Basin (280 mgd) based upon the current operations agreement to meet the member’s needs (194 mgd) through 2020.
IV. Summary
The year 2050 forecasted demands (AD = 36 mgd; MD = 79 mgd) are in excess of the City’s current water rights (AD Right = 35.32 mgd; MD Right = 73.39 mgd) and additional water rights can be requested to meet forecasted demands. The Department of Water Resources, who issues water rights, would likely not consider additional water contracts now on the Kansas River for the City of Lawrence until the existing rights are more heavily utilized. When the City can illustrate the need for more water, the City should apply for an additional water right on the Kansas River.
There appears to be an adequate source of supply managed by the KRWAD in the Kansas River Basin (485 mgd now and 280 mgd with the sediment allocation filled) to meet the member needs (194 mgd including the City’s forecasted demands) for the foreseeable future. The continuation of KRWAD and Lawrence’s active participation in the assurance district are vital to assure future demands beyond 2020 are met. City Manager Mike Wildgen presently serves as Vice-President of the Assurance District and has represented the City for fifteen years. We encourage the City to lobby the KRWAD to forecast demands beyond 20 years for a longer-term planning cycle within the basin to meet member needs. However, it isn’t practical to spend capital at this time to ensure long-term demands are met as there are too many unknowns with respect to sedimentation rate, population growth, and many more factors that are difficult to predict.
The continued use and maintenance of the existing water contracts from Clinton Reservoir are a key component in the City’s ability to meet future demands. Any requests for reductions in the City’s water contracts from Clinton should be vigorously refuted. As noted earlier in this memo, recent requests by RWD #3 to use part of the City’s allocation/contract from Clinton was questioned robustly by City staff, resulting in a short term “temporary” allocation by the KWO that does not negatively impact the City. The ability for the City to have multiple sources of supply, and flexibility in their use, for contingency planning purposes is vital in meeting future water demands.