Kansas water law dedicates, or appropriates, this resource for the use of the public by allowing individuals to obtain water rights for beneficial purposes under the Kansas Water Appropriation Act.

For example, an individual can apply for a water right to develop a well for 14 uses such as municipal, industrial, stock watering and irrigation, among others. This appropriation right grants the right to use water, but it does not convey ownership of the water itself. The right to use that water, however, is a property right protected under Kansas law.

These property rights rely on a tiered system, based on the priority of when each was applied for.

This principle is commonly referred to as “first in time, first in right.” During a shortage, water rights with earlier priority dates must be satisfied before those with later dates.

Water, both surface water and groundwater, is the lifeblood of Kansas because of the significant investments required to put it to beneficial use. Without the stable and secure property rights afforded by the priority system, farmers and ranchers would have less incentive to invest their labor and capital since their ability to use water could be taken away without regard to established rights. Without these longstanding protections from both government and private interference, there would be fewer wells, pumps and pivots making crop production possible.

Without these investments, the economic vitality of Kansas would look drastically different.

In theory, dating back to 1945, this seniority-based system provides a framework for allocating available water during shortages.

In practice, the state granted more water rights than groundwater sources could sustainably support in some areas, and decades of inaction have created the need to reduce consumptive use.

When water is plentiful, priority rarely gets a second thought. During a shortage, however, some call for abandoning it based on misguided notions of fairness or equity. Just as priority is the bedrock of Kansas water law, private property rights are at the heart of Kansas Farm Bureau’s grassroots policy.

That policy supports our members Doyle Saddler, Clayton and Lori Janicke and Conrad and Pamela Popp as they intervene in a proposal stemming from Groundwater Management District 4’s five-year review of its Local Enhanced Management Area.

Under the LEMA proposal, the government would impose mandatory pumping reductions only on irrigators. This would violate both state law and KFB’s member-established policy, under the guise of conservation.

Preserving groundwater is a laudable goal, but ignoring priority undermines not only the value of water rights but also accompanying land values and the livelihood of farmers and ranchers. In essence, the proposed cure could be worse than the disease.

Maintaining priority does not preclude conserving Kansas’ precious groundwater supplies. Priority already provides a framework for addressing shortages. KFB policy recognizes this, stating that any “reductions needed to stabilize aquifers should be done by a percentage of water right allocation based on priority…”

“First in time, first in right” isn’t just a catchy slogan. It has been a cornerstone of Kansas water law since the passage of the Kansas Water Appropriation Act in 1945. Across-the-board cuts exclusively targeting irrigators might seem like the easiest solution, but the government must follow the law as written, not simply choose the approach that is most convenient. Kansas Farm Bureau supports conservation, but only when done through lawful methods that respect private property rights and more than 80 years of state law.

— “Insight” is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.