Moderate drought may be plaguing Northeast Kansas counties, but the dryness isn’t about to prevent a group of state officials from pursuing safeguards for the resource’s future.
The Missouri River Regional Advisory Committee of the Kansas Water Office met Thursday in Atchison to discuss a laundry list of water-related issues. Among the more prominent and obvious topics was the current drought.
Committee chairman Carl Johnson voiced fears of the drought’s lingering impacts at the end of the meeting. “It’s moving this way,” he said during a conversation with Alan Kelley of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, who shares those concerns.
In line with countering drought’s long-term effects, the group heard updates on a rollout of an online campaign initiative dubbed Kansas Runs on Water. Kirk Tjelmeland, a water resource officer for the state office, said the effort aims to provide information on water-related issues to the public.
“The whole idea behind this is to have one umbrella for education,” Tjelmeland told members.
Yet trying to secure a full budget is already proving to be a challenge.
(Read more: Atchison Globe Now)