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Wichita Public Works Talks Future Of City's Water Security

djmcaleese
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flickr Creative Commons

Yesterday afternoon Wichita’s Public Works & Utilities Department gave a presentation on the future of water supply in the area. City Council members were in attendance and ideas concerning both conservation, as well as new sources of water, were discussed.

Wichita’s Public Works Director Alan King presented a power point demonstration about what could be done to sure up the city’s water supply until the year 2060. King’s model included five plans that he said take into consideration both effectiveness and the city’s budget.

“This model was actually vetted with economic experts for it to be validated," King said. "We believe that we have a really good sense of what kinds of conservation are good in an economic sense and what plans hurt us economically. “

King added that the current Aquifer Supply and Recovery program - which cost the city about $240 million - is only providing about half of its intended supply, and that more production is needed for long term drought protection.

Some of the plans could be used in conjunction with one another. They included building a pipeline from El Dorado to Wichita, and adding additional water wells to surrounding rivers. Public works will look over these plans once more and choose two to present in greater detail to city council next month.

Follow Sean Sandefur on Twitter, @SeanSandefur