Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a) An
application to change a point of diversion by adding an additional point of
diversion to divert groundwater, by either constructing a new well or moving a
portion of a water right to a well that has previously been authorized by the
chief engineer, shall not be approved unless the application meets the
following requirements:
(1) Each proposed
point of diversion shall meet the requirements of
K.S.A.
82a-708b, and amendments thereto, and any
applicable regulations adopted by the chief engineer.
(2) The total maximum quantity of water
authorized to be diverted each calendar year by the original well or wells, and
the additional well or wells, shall not exceed any of the following limits:
(A) The maximum annual quantity of water that
has been perfected;
(B) the maximum
annual quantity of water authorized to be diverted before approval of the
change; or
(C) the maximum
consumptive use of water during the perfection period as required by
K.A.R.
5-5-3 and as specified in either of the
following:
(i) If the water right authorizes
the use of water for irrigation use, the consumptive use of water shall be
presumed to not be increased in violation of
K.A.R.
5-5-3 if the maximum annual quantity
requested does not exceed the quantity in acre-feet calculated by use of the
following formula: multiply the maximum number of acres legally irrigated in
any one year during the perfection period by the 80 percent chance net
irrigation requirements (N.I.R.), as specified in
K.A.R.
5-5-12 expressed in acre-feet, and divide
that number by a delivery efficiency of 0.85; or
(ii) if the water right authorizes the use of
water for irrigation and an additional well or wells are authorized for a
beneficial use of water that is not irrigation, the consumptive use of the
portion of the water right used for irrigation shall be determined as specified
in paragraph (a)(2)(C)(i). The non-irrigation portion of the water right
available for diversion shall be determined as specified in
K.A.R.
5-5-9 and
K.A.R.
5-5-10.
(3) The total maximum rate of diversion that
may be authorized for the original well or wells and the additional well or
wells shall not be greater than the total maximum rate of diversion that could
have been diverted from the original well or wells if they were currently being
replaced by new wells at substantially the originally authorized location or
locations in the same local source of supply. The maximum rate of diversion
shall be one of the following:
(A) The total
rate of diversion based on a current water flow rate test done on the point or
points of diversion; or
(B) a value
resulting from a hydraulic analysis, which may include rate tests, pump tests,
and water level data, submitted by the applicant and acceptable to the chief
engineer based on the veracity of its data and its proper application of
scientific principles, showing the current capacity of the aquifer to yield
water at the currently authorized point or points of diversion.
(4) A condition shall be placed on
the approval of the application for change authorizing the additional well or
wells that provides that, for the sole purpose of administering wells
concerning direct impairment, the additional well or wells shall be considered
to have the priority of the date the application was filed to add the
additional well or wells.
(b) The applicant shall submit the following
information:
(1) A well completion log of the
currently authorized well or a stratigraphic log of a test hole located within
300 feet of the currently authorized well;
(2) the depth of the currently authorized
well;
(3) the current depth to the
static water level of the currently authorized well;
(4) a stratigraphic log of a test hole
located within 300 feet of the proposed location of each of the proposed
additional well or wells; and
(5)
any additional information that the chief engineer may require to understand
the nature of the proposed additional well or wells.
(c) The proposed additional well or wells
shall meet one of the following conditions:
(1) Meet the well spacing requirements to all
other wells with a priority earlier than the date on which the change
application was filed; or
(2)
demonstrate by a hydraulic analysis, which may include rate tests, pump tests,
and water level data, as submitted by the applicant and acceptable to the chief
engineer based on the veracity of its data and its proper application of
scientific principles, that the approval of an additional well within 300 feet
of a currently authorized well location, or within the geographic center of a
currently authorized battery of wells, will neither impair any water rights
senior to the date on which the application for change was filed nor
prejudicially affect the public interest.
(d) Each point of diversion authorized by an
approval of an application for change for an additional well shall have a
specific assignment of a maximum instantaneous rate of diversion and a maximum
annual quantity of water.
(e) Each
well authorized by a water right that has been changed under the provisions of
this regulation shall be equipped with a separate water flowmeter that meets or
exceeds the specifications for water flowmeters adopted by the chief
engineer.
(f) Each approval of an
additional well or wells shall have a condition that reserves jurisdiction for
the chief engineer to review the approval of the additional well or wells at
intervals of at least five years, and not more than 10 years, to determine if
the total annual quantity of water actually being withdrawn by all wells
authorized by the approval of an application for change is exceeding the total
annual quantity of water that could have been physically withdrawn if the
additional well or wells had not been approved. If the chief engineer
determines during the review that the total annual quantity being withdrawn by
all the wells, including the additional wells, exceeds the total annual
quantity of water that could have been physically withdrawn by the original
well or wells, the total maximum annual quantity that can be withdrawn by all
the wells shall be reduced by the chief engineer to the total maximum annual
quantity that could have been physically withdrawn by the original well or
wells.
