Federal officials step back from water request at Quivira wildlife refuge 

Federal officials have agreed to pause their demand for water for the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in favor of working with state and local agencies to find a solution.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service operates the Quivira refuge in Stafford County. Its rare inland marshes provide a vital stopping point for migratory birds.

But in recent years, Rattlesnake Creek, which normally flows into the refuge, has been all but dry. The refuge received less than its fair share of water in two out of every three years between 2008 and 2021, a report by the state found, because of irrigation upstream from the refuge. 

The continued lack of sufficient water led the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to write to the state in February requesting that the state ensure the refuge’s fair share of water.

Quivira holds a state water right, entitling it to more than 14,000 acre-feet of water each year. And establishment of that water right in 1957 makes it a more senior user than many farms in the region, giving it higher priority to water flows.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in February filed a “request to secure water” with the Kansas Department of Agriculture, a process by which water right holders with seniority, like Quivira, can request that the state force junior water right holders to cut back. 

The move was criticized by elected officials and farm groups.

Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, said forcing farmers to cut back their water use “could devastate the entire region.”

In a letter to the Kansas Department of Agriculture on Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to press pause on its request to secure water in favor of a collaborative approach to solving the issue.

“We remain open to and supportive of a collaborative approach that makes meaningful progress in addressing the impairment of the water right at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge while minimizing the impact to other water users and the local communities in which they live,” the service wrote.

But if that approach doesn’t work, the letter says, the service will again request to secure water for the refuge.

Kelly and U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, celebrated the service’s pledge in a news release.

“I am pleased that both parties have agreed to collaborate on a sustainable solution for all who rely on the Rattlesnake Creek Basin,” Kelly said. “By working together, we can show how agricultural producers and all water rights holders can rise to the challenge to meet our state’s water needs now and into the future.”

Moran said he appreciated the service’s effort to listen to Kansans.

“It is important we establish long-term solutions that support the refuge and the regional economy,” Moran said, “and I am pleased that all parties are working together towards a sustainable future for the watershed and our Kansas producers.”

The Kansas Farm Bureau’s president, Joe Newland, commended Kelly and Moran’s bipartisan approach to finding a resolution.

“Kansas Farm Bureau, working directly alongside impacted farmers and ranchers within the watershed, looks forward to working together to ensure the economic driver that is Kansas agriculture continues to prosper for decades to come under our priority-based water allocation system supplemented by augmentation,” Newland said in a news release.