Andy Ostmeyer

aostmeyer@joplinglobe.com

BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — Katie Tietsort, Kansas Water Commissioner, will be the guest speaker at the next meeting of the Spring River Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) group on Tuesday.

Tietsort will discuss the fundamentals of water rights in Kansas, the Ozark aquifer moratorium, recent permitting activity and the future of water resources in the region.

The city of Pittsburg has filed a permit with the Kansas Department of Agriculture to divert up to 10.8 million gallons of water daily from Spring River in the future.

That has concerned some officials with The Empire District Electric Co., based in Joplin, Mo., about how the withdrawal of that much water could impact the operation of its Riverton Power Plant.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture notified the utility of Pittsburg’s permit request earlier this summer because Empire owns land near the point north of Riverton where Pittsburg would divert the water it is seeking.

Bill Beasley, director of public works in Pittsburg, said the city has no immediate plans at this time to build a water-treatment plant on Spring River, but has recognized that it needs a second source of water.

The city of Pittsburg gets all of its water from the Ozark Aquifer, a groundwater source. The state of Kansas in 2004 imposed a moratorium on the drilling of deep wells into the aquifer in Cherokee and Crawford counties, according to Carl Hayes, environmental officer with the Cherokee County Health Department.

The WRAPS group also will discuss its three recently selected demonstration projects — the Downstream Casino wetland, the Baxter Springs High School rain garden and the Schermerhorn Park wetland — as well as the upcoming “Bluegrass in the Watershed” Festival.

The Kansas Alliance of Wetlands and Streams, a not-for-profit group, allocated about $12,000 for demonstration projects in Cherokee County to provide information and education to residents about the watershed, said Hayes, chairman of the Spring River WRAPS group.

Mark your calendar

The Spring River Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy group will meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Baxter Springs Community Building at the corner of 11th Street and East Avenue.