Drought Update - June 2013

[SHOCKvalue]

I'd be curious to know who bore the brunt of construction costs for El Dorado lake. It's a COE reservoir correct? If that's true - meaning the US taxpayer as a whole essentially built the lake - then I would have to say it's another example of how misguided our federal policies have become when a bedroom community (El Dorado) that depends heavily on the economic driver for a region (Wichita), is by some convoluted manner able to hold leverage for something they didn't even pay for.

[pinstripers]

Years ago, I saw plans for one to be built SW of Cheney, near Murdock. The engineers chose Cheney location instead. The Cheney location was determined to have salt-free water, though the rez would fill up with silt faster. The salt content of the one proposed near Murdock was deemed to be too high, though in today's economy, that problem could be fixed easily, I suppose.

[wsushox1]

You'd to capture it, purify it, and then return it to underground.

That can be done IIRC, they currently do that with the Little Arkansas near Halstead.

[SHOCKvalue]

I'm still not convinced that the current combo of Cheney Lake and the Equus Beds are not a reasonable, at least mid-term, water supply for the Wichita area. Before the (highly unusual) drought we've seen the past couple of years, there was absolutely no talk of water supply worries for Wichita. Somehow though, it's now a very pressing issue, in spite of the fact that recent rains have essentially hit the reset button on the entire "problem" (short term or longer).

I think more people respect long-time mayor Bob Knight, than dislike him, from his years in office running from 1980-2003. There was an Eagle article in the past couple of days in reference to his contemplation of another run at the mayoral office after Brewer terms-out. Here's what he had to say on the water supply conundrum:

"I’m confused about the water issue,” Knight said. “When I was mayor, I was assured we had a 50-year supply for the community, even including projected growth. And I think that figure’s been used since I left. I don’t know what happened."

And let's be honest here, Wichita is probably one of the slowest growing metro areas in the US, and will be for a long time. Why the paranoia and inability to view the prior 2 years as a anomaly?

[wsushox1]

I'd be curious to know who bore the brunt of construction costs for El Dorado lake. It's a COE reservoir correct? If that's true - meaning the US taxpayer as a whole essentially built the lake - then I would have to say it's another example of how misguided our federal policies have become when a bedroom community (El Dorado) that depends heavily on the economic driver for a region (Wichita), is by some convoluted manner able to hold leverage for something they didn't even pay for.

The city of El Dorado is on the hook for 41% IIRC of the El Dorado Reservior. As you can imagine paying it off is going slowly.

[pinstripers]

What would it cost to build one today?

[wsushox1]

Also, El Dorado Lake is projected to be filled with sediment by 2050...whether it will or not remains to be seen. Sedimentation is a big issue.

[rrshock]

The reservoirs an be dredged. There were plans before El Dorado was built for a reservoir north of Towanda. That would have supplied Wichita and El Dorado. I imagine we will see another reservoir at some point.

[wsushox1]

The reservoirs an be dredged.

They can but the pressing issue is then what would you do with the 30+ years of ag runoff and chemicals that are in the silt?

They wanted to dredge out Kanopolis a while back but they couldn't find anything to do with the silt.

[MoValley John]

They can but the pressing issue is then what would you do with the 30+ years of ag runoff and chemicals that are in the silt?

They wanted to dredge out Kanopolis a while back but they couldn't find anything to do with the silt.

Interesting... They dredge the reservoirs here and the silt is used as fill soil. These two environmental concerns, to me, are red herrings. Ag runoff should be mostly cow poop, and is good for the soil. As for chemicals, nitrogen has somewhere around a 10-20 minute half life. Glyfosates, such as roundup, have a three month half life. However you look at it, the silt should be safe to use as fill, and in most cases, beneficial. Environmentalists could probably skew the real facts. My guess is that it was too expensive to dredge and environmental concerns was the scapegoat.

[rrshock]

There are plenty of needs for fill dirt. I know dredging is expensive, but the only other option is build a new one and blow the current damn. That would cost more.

[SB Shock]

Interesting... They dredge the reservoirs here and the silt is used as fill soil. These two environmental concerns, to me, are red herrings. Ag runoff should be mostly cow poop, and is good for the soil. As for chemicals, nitrogen has somewhere around a 10-20 minute half life. Glyfosates, such as roundup, have a three month half life. However you look at it, the silt should be safe to use as fill, and in most cases, beneficial. Environmentalists could probably skew the real facts. My guess is that it was too expensive to dredge and environmental concerns was the scapegoat.

I would imagine the real issue is the cost dealing with the EPA redtape and associated costs. USGS does sedament analysis and planning all the time, so it not like this is some unforseen issue, it just the principles parties have taken the attitude it somebody elses problem to deal with in 20-40 years.

[pogo]

Interesting... They dredge the reservoirs here and the silt is used as fill soil. These two environmental concerns, to me, are red herrings. Ag runoff should be mostly cow poop, and is good for the soil. As for chemicals, nitrogen has somewhere around a 10-20 minute half life. Glyfosates, such as roundup, have a three month half life. However you look at it, the silt should be safe to use as fill, and in most cases, beneficial. Environmentalists could probably skew the real facts. My guess is that it was too expensive to dredge and environmental concerns was the scapegoat.

Oh come on now. You think an environmentalist would actually skew facts like a common politician? :)

[pinstripers]

Dunno, but silt is only beneficial in limited quantities. No way is the majority manure, either.