MEMO
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To: |
Debbie Van Saun |
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From: |
Chris Stewart, Roger Coffey |
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CC: |
Ed Mullins |
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Date: |
September 9, 2004 |
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Re: |
Water Supply Questions |
This memo and associated attachments are provided to address the question of water supply and the future availability to the City of Lawrence. At a recent City Commission meeting the subject of water and wastewater rate alternatives was presented by Black and Veatch to the City Commission. There was some discussion about the issue of water supply and whether or not the City was facing a future water shortage. A request was made to Black and Veatch to clarify the water supply issue.
The attached information from Black and Veatch includes a description of the existing water rights and contract volume from the Kansas River and the Clinton Reservoir. In addition, a graph of the City of Lawrence water supply availability (with the existing water rights and contract volume) versus the demand curve is included by Black and Veatch. Keep in mind that the supply volume provided in the graph is not a representation that no more water is available in the Kansas River where the supply and demand curve intersects. The information shown in the graph is the City of Lawrence water volume in the Kansas River that has been approved by the Kansas Division of Water Resources for perfection plus the current Contract volume from the Clinton Reservoir. The determination of the total water supply available in the Kansas River is much more complex issue and involves many different growth factors from all the communities along the River. The Kansas Water Office (KWO) continues to study this issue and has written a white paper (attached) about water supply in the Kansas River and recognizes in the paper that projections 40 to 50 years into the future are very difficult to obtain due to the uncertainty in the growth rates of each community.
att: memo from B&V re: water rights and contracts