Water Violations Down Due To Increased Rains

A state official says abundant rainfall last year helped reduce the number of water use violators in Kansas.

Kansas Department of Agriculture data show 10 Kansas irrigators were fined in 2015 for tampering with their water meter or falsifying their water use report. About 20 other water users were fined for overpumping their water right for the second or third time.

Most of the cases were for actions in 2014, with a few from 2013. Some other cases are still being completed by state officials.

Lane Letourneau, water appropriations manager for the state, says the rain helped people implement better water management strategies.

He also credited a program that allows irrigators to use more water during drought years and bank water during wet ones.