ADVOCACY ALERT: House Bill No. 2686

ADVOCACY ALERT: House Bill No. 2686

REORGANIZATION OF WATER RELATED AGENCIES AND FEES FOR WATER FUNDING
The House Water Committee has introduced a bill, HB 2686, with the goal of improving the protection and management of water in our state. You can read the bill on the Kansas Legislature’s website here: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/hb2686/

Please consider submitting your thoughts on the content of House Bill No. 2686. You can submit testimony either in writing, virtual or in person. Testimony will be heard on Wednesday and Thursday of next week, February 16 and 17, 2022. We also ask that if possible, come to the Statehouse for the hearings! Water is important and we need to show our support for attention to water in Kansas.

Hearing: Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 9:00 AM Room 152-S.
Hearing: Thursday, February 17, 2022, 9:00 AM Room 152-S.

Here you will find the House Water Committee’s agenda for next week here. http://kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/committees/ctte_h_water_1/documents/agenda/weekly/20220220.pdf

We have also included the House Water Committee’s rules for testifying below. You should notify the committee assistant, Tony Prohaska, of your intent to testify as soon as possible and no later than 9 am Monday. Tony can be reached by email at Tony.Prohaska@House.ks.gov or by phone at 785-296-7310. An electronic copy of your testimony should then be submitted to Tony no later than 10:00 a.m. the day before you testify. Testimony can be offered orally or written, virtually or in-person, and can be proponent, neutral, or opponent in nature. The committee rules are listed here: http://kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/committees/misc/20212022watercommitteenoticetoconfereesadjustedfornewca.pdf

Why is this important? Some thoughts from your Kansas Riverkeeper:

For years, we’ve been advocating at the Kansas Capitol for more attention to water issues. We’ve begged, pleaded, and danced around in hopes that someone would pay attention. In the middle of the battles over education, we were told that “water would have to wait”. The Kansas Water Plan has been under funded for the last 15 years and has never received an increase since it’s inception. We have heard from citizens that water is confusing in Kansas and that you never know where to go to find anything. We’ve been advocating, but often times it felt like our voice was small compared to so many other issues facing our state.

In 2021, the House Water Committee was created and they took up the issue (we are grateful). They spent all of last session taking a very hard look at how water is organized in Kansas, how far behind we are on dealing with water issues, and how much money we need to get things right. Along the way, the rest of us learned about water in Kansas, too. If you missed it, you can get up to speed by watching the videos of the House Water Committee in 2021 and 2022 here: https://www.youtube.com/c/KSLegislatureLIVE

What we all learned, is that water in Kansas is confusing and we don’t really realize great synergies due to the way that water is organized right now. We are in this together – trying to make sure we have enough water for EVERYONE, the best water quality for EVERYONE, planning for climate change, and making sure that our kids don’t have too many messes to clean up. This is hard work, folks. I commend the House Water Committee for their hard work to bring forth House Bill 2686. I am grateful for their bipartisan leadership – yes, you heard me right. Bipartisan leadership. They have set the example at the Statehouse and I’m proud of the work they’ve done.

Now it’s your turn. Submit testimony. Be heard.
For the river,
Dawn Buehler
Kansas Riverkeeper

For more thoughts on water, read your Kansas Riverkeeper’s latest blog about funding water in Kansas: https://kansasriver.org/category/chasing-the-channel-blog/