TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has signed into law a bipartisan funding plan to preserve water. The plan helps address a growing water crisis in the western part of the state.
The new Kansas law adds $35 million this year for state projects aimed at conserving water. Some of the funding will go to grants that farmers can use to pay for water-saving technology, like advanced irrigation systems. Kelly says the plan is needed to protect the water sources used by farmers for future generations.
Water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer, an important water source in western Kansas, have steadily declined for decades. Those levels have fallen sharply because of irrigation. The giant underground reservoir in western Kansas also provides drinking water.
