This issue of “The Clarifier” is published by the Kansas Rural Water Association and is provided to water and wastewater utilities, associate members, agencies and other friends. Have a comment? Send it to KRWA at P.O. Box 226, Seneca, KS 66538; ph. 785/336-3760; e-mail:
[email protected]. This newsletter is in addition to KRWA’s regular news magazine, The Kansas Lifeline. December 2016 Vol. 5 Make a New Years’ Source Water Resolution he Kansas Rural Water Association has T provided, at no charge, to public water supply systems, source water protection technical assistance since 1996. The first wellhead protection plan written with KRWA assistance and adopted by a public water supply system appears to have occurred in 1999. There have been several different staff members doing this work for the last 20 years, but none have had a longer tenure than geologist Doug Helmke. Doug started working for KRWA in 2000, to provide water rights assistance, and a few years later, started working in the Environmental Protection Agency-funded wellhead protection program which is This municipal well has soybeans planted within the 100-foot "pollution-free" administered through the National Rural easement. The lack of grass around the well pad suggests that a herbicide has been Water Association. Water rights assistance sprayed very close to the well and the water level measurement tube. The landowner continued to be an important service will be given information about agricultural buffers that may help his tenant and offered in conjunction with wellhead chemical applicators respect the public water supply system's easement.