Session of 2025
HOUSE BILL No. 2111
By Committee on Water
Requested by Earl Lewis on behalf of the Kansas Department of Agriculture
1-28
AN ACT concerning water; relating to the Kansas conservation reserve
enhancement program; increasing the acreage cap for CREPs from
40,000 to 60,000 acres; clarifying the county acreage cap for CREPs
and that the last eligible offer for enrollment exceeding applicable
acreage caps may be approved; removing the limitation on acres
eligible for CREP enrollment based on expired federal contracts;
adding a general ineligibility criterion based on federal ineligibility;
allowing CREP contracts for dryland farming or limited irrigation for
water quantity goals; removing the prohibition on participation in
CREP for government-owned water rights; clarifying current CREP
criteria related to water right usage, sanctions and reporting; allowing
exceptions to eligibility criteria based on factors such as location in
high-priority water conservation areas, high-flow capacity wells,
circumstances like bankruptcy or probate and enrollment in other water
conservation programs; modifying the reporting requirements to cover
the preceding five years; amending K.S.A. 2-1933 and repealing the
existing section.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. K.S.A. 2-1933 is hereby amended to read as follows: 2-
1933. (a) As used in this section, "division" means the division of
conservation established within the Kansas department of agriculture in
K.S.A. 74-5,126, and amendments thereto.
(b) The division shall administer the conservation reserve
enhancement program (CREP) on behalf of the state of Kansas pursuant to
agreements with the United States department of agriculture for the
purpose of implementing beneficial water quality and water quantity
projects concerning agricultural lands within targeted watersheds to be
enrolled in CREP.
(c) There is hereby established in the state treasury the Kansas
conservation reserve enhancement program fund, which shall be
administered by the division. All expenditures from the Kansas
conservation reserve enhancement program fund shall be for the
implementation of CREP pursuant to agreements between the state of
Kansas and the United States department of agriculture. All expenditures
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from such fund shall be made in accordance with appropriation acts upon
warrants of the director of accounts and reports issued pursuant to
vouchers approved by the secretary of agriculture or by the secretary's
designee.
(d) The division may request the assistance of other state agencies,
Kansas state university, local governments and private entities in the
implementation of CREP.
(e) The division may receive and expend moneys from the federal or
state government or private sources for the purpose of carrying out the
provisions of this section. All moneys received shall be remitted to the
state treasurer in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 75-4215, and
amendments thereto. Upon receipt of each such remittance, the state
treasurer shall deposit the entire amount in the state treasury to the credit
of the Kansas conservation reserve enhancement program fund. The
division shall carry over unexpended moneys in the Kansas conservation
reserve enhancement program fund from one fiscal year to the next.
(f) The division may enter into cost-share contracts with landowners
that will result in fulfilling specific objectives of projects approved in
agreements between the United States department of agriculture and the
state of Kansas.
(g) The division shall administer all CREPs in Kansas subject to the
following criteria:
(1) The aggregate total number of acres enrolled in Kansas in all
CREPs shall not exceed 40,000 60,000 acres, except that the last eligible
offer for enrollment that will exceed the 60,000-acre cap may be approved;
(2) the number of acres eligible for enrollment in CREP in Kansas
shall be limited to
1
/2 of the number of acres represented by federal
contracts in the federal conservation reserve program that have expired in
the prior year in counties within the particular CREP area, except that if
federal law permits the lands enrolled in the CREP program to be used for
agricultural purposes, such as planting agricultural commodities,
including, but not limited to, grains, cellulosic or biomass materials,
alfalfa, grasses or legumes, but not including cover crops, then the number
of acres eligible for enrollment shall be limited to the number of acres
represented by contracts in the federal conservation reserve program that
have expired in the prior year in counties within the specific CREP area;
(3) no more than 25% of the acreage in CREP may be in any one
county, except that the last eligible offer to exceed the number of acres
constituting a 25% acreage cap in any one county shall be approvedthe
aggregate total number of acres enrolled in all CREPs in any one Kansas
county shall not exceed 25% of the statewide acreage cap set forth in
paragraph (1), except that the last eligible offer to exceed such cap in any
one county may be approved;
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(4)(3) no whole-field enrollments shall be accepted into a CREP
established for water quality purposes; and
(5) lands enrolled in the federal conservation reserve program as of
January 1, 2008,
(4) an acreage shall not be eligible for enrollment in CREP if it is
otherwise ineligible for enrollment under federal law.
(h) (1) For a CREP established with the purpose of meeting water
quantity goals, If approved by the United States department of
agriculture, the division may, in accordance with subsection (i), approve a
CREP contract that allows for the establishment of native grasses, routine
grazing, dryland farming or limited irrigation practices for the purpose of
meeting water quantity goals.
(i) The division shall administer such each CREP established for the
purpose of meeting water quantity goals in accordance with the following
additional criteria:(A) No water right that is owned by a governmental
entity shall be purchased or retired by the state or federal government
pursuant to CREP; and
(B) only water rights in good standing are eligible for inclusion under
CREP.
(2) To be a water right in good standing:
(A) At least 50% of the maximum annual quantity authorized to be
diverted under the water right that has been used in any three years within
the most recent five-year period preceding the submission for which
irrigation water use reports are approved and made available by the
division of water resources of the Kansas department of agriculture;
(B) the water rights used for the acreage in CREP during the most
recent five-year period preceding the submission for which irrigation water
use reports are approved and made available by the division of water
resources shall not have: (i) Exceeded the maximum annual quantity
authorized to be diverted; and (ii) been the subject of enforcement
sanctions by the division of water resources; and
(C) the water right holder has submitted the required annual water use
report required under K.S.A. 82a-732, and amendments thereto, for each
of the most recent 10 years
(1) All acreage that is an authorized place of use of an irrigation
water right and is proposed to be enrolled in CREP shall have been
irrigated at a rate of not less than
1
/2 acre-foot per acre per year for three
out of the five years immediately preceding the year that the acreage is
offered for enrollment, as determined by the division;
(2) the water right or water rights used for the acreage proposed to
be enrolled in CREP shall not have been the subject of any sanctions or
penalties by the division of water resources that are in effect or pending
determination at the time that the acreage is offered for enrollment; and
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(3) the owner of the water right or water rights for which the acreage
that is proposed to be enrolled in CREP is an authorized place of use or
the water use correspondent for such water right shall have submitted the
annual water use report required pursuant to K.S.A. 82a-732, and
amendments thereto, for each of the most recent 10 years.
(i) (1)(j) The secretary, in consultation with the commission and the
Kansas farm service agency office, may grant exceptions to the eligibility
criteria outlined in subsections (g)(1) and (g)(2) if the acreage proposed
to be enrolled in CREP satisfies one or more of the following conditions:
(1) Is located in an area designated as a high-priority area for water
conservation pursuant to K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 82a-1044, and amendments
thereto;
(2) is an authorized place of use of a high flow capacity water well;
(3) is an authorized place of use of a water right that was not utilized
in accordance with subsection (i)(1) within the timeframe referenced in
subsection (i)(1) due to circumstances involving bankruptcy, probate or
other legal matters, excluding those related to any enforcement sanctions
or penalties by the division of water resources that are in effect or pending
determination at the time that the acreage is offered for enrollment in
CREP; or
(4) is an authorized place of use of a water right that is or has been
enrolled in a water conservation program, including, but not limited to,
the United States department of agriculture environmental quality
incentives program or a water conservation area pursuant to K.S.A. 82a-
745, and amendments thereto, or has been assigned a water quantity
allocation pursuant to an intensive groundwater use control area
designated in accordance with K.S.A. 82a-1036, and amendments thereto,
or a local enhanced management area designated in accordance with
K.S.A. 82a-1041, and amendments thereto.
(k) (1) The Kansas department of agriculture shall, at the beginning
of each annual regular session of the legislature, submit a CREP report to
the senate committee on agriculture and natural resources and the house
committee on agriculture at the beginning of each annual regular session
of the legislature and natural resources, and any successor committees,
containing a description of program activities for each CREP administered
in the state and including. Such report shall include:
(A) The acreage enrolled in CREP during fiscal year 2008 through
the most current fiscal year to date the preceding five years;
(B) the dollar amounts received and expended for CREP during fiscal
year 2008 through the most current fiscal year to date the preceding five
years; and
(C) an assessment of meeting whether each of the program objectives
identified in the agreement with the farm services agency; and
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(D) such other information specified by the Kansas department of
agriculture has been met.
(2) For a each CREP established with the purpose of meeting water
quantity goals, the following additional information shall be included in
such annual report:
(A) The total amount of water rights, measured in acre-feet, retired in
CREP from fiscal year 2008 through the current fiscal year to date that
was permanently retired in CREP during the preceding five years;
(B) the change in groundwater water levels in the CREP area during
fiscal year 2008 through the most current fiscal year to date the preceding
five years;
(C) the total annual amount of water usage in the CREP area from
fiscal year 2008 through the most current fiscal year to date during the
preceding five years; and
(D) the average annual water use, measured in acre-feet, for each of
the five years preceding enrollment for each water right enrolled under
each water right for which an authorized place of use is enrolled in CREP
during the preceding five years.
(j)(l) The Kansas department of agriculture shall submit a report on
the economic impact of each specific CREP to the senate committee on
agriculture and natural resources and the house of representatives
committee on agriculture and natural resources, and any successor
committees, every five years, beginning in 2017. The report shall include
economic impacts to businesses located within each specific CREP region.
Sec. 2. K.S.A. 2-1933 is hereby repealed.
Sec. 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.
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