Rex Buchanan, Interim Director of the Kansas Geological Survey, has written books about Kansas geology and landmarks. As a journalist, a biologist, and a science historian, he pursues a broad set of interests in natural resources, the environment, and public policy. At a recent meeting of Lawrence Central Rotary, he focused on current issues regarding water and energy in the state, declaring that Kansas at a crossroads.
Current efforts to define and implement a 50-year vision for water in Kansas must address both surface water in the eastern part of the state and ground water in the western part of the state. In the east, reservoirs need dredging in order to maintain hydroelectric power sources and recreation areas. In the west, farmers maintain that their water rights allow them to irrigate land as they wish, despite dangerous depletion of the Ogallala aquifer. Costs and benefits to both issues are complex and controversial.
Buchanan also talked about the impact of the oil and gas industry in Kansas. To date, there is no evidence that wells are contaminating water resources. Buchanan confirmed that the number of earthquakes in south-central Kansas has increased dramatically in the past several years. Although there is a correlation of the earthquake locations with the oil and gas drilling fields, he explained that the earthquakes are not likely a result of fracking but probably occur due to the practice of disposing in deep wells of the salt water that is a natural by-product of oil and gas production.
