Appendix E: PUBLIC FACILITIES, PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMMING, PUBLIC REVENUE AND THE FINANCING OF CAPITAL FACILITIES, CONSERVATION PRACTICES AND DEVELOPMENT HAZARDS

1. Public Facilities

State and Interstate Highway System

McPherson County is served by several state highways, including Interstate 135. Interstate 135 runs north-south through McPherson county and provides vehicular connection to Salina and I- 70 to the north and to Wichita and I-35 to the south. I-135 is located two and one-half miles east of Lindsborg, it skirts the east edge of McPherson and is also located about one and one-half miles east of Moundridge.

Highway U.S. 56 runs east-west through McPherson County. Highway 56 connects the cities of Canton, Galva, McPherson, and Windom within McPherson County and provides vehicular links to Lyons, Ellinwood, and Great Bend to the west and to Hillsboro, Marion, Strong City, and I-35 to the east. Highway 56 is a major route for the transport of cattle from the Flint Hills region of mid-east Kansas to the cattle feed lots located in western Kansas. Other goods are also transported over Highway 56.

Kansas State Highway 4 is located in the northwestern portion of the county and provides a link between Lindsborg and smaller towns to the west and a linkage to I-135.

Kansas State Highway 61 is a major link between McPherson and the City of Hutchinson to the southwest. There are plans under development to reconstruct Highway 61 to possibly a 4-lane divided highway. Kansas Highway 61 is the most-traveled highway in McPherson County after I-135, having a traffic count in May 2000 of 4,695 vehicles per day at a location just south of Inman, as compared to 7,010 vehicles per day counted on the north bound lanes of the south I- 135 interchange at Moundridge and 7,060 vehicles per day in the south bound lanes of I-135 just south of the McPherson County/Saline County line the same year.

In recent years, there has been discussion of developing a full-fledged U.S. Highway 56 by-pass route around the City of McPherson. At the present time there is heavy truck traffic traveling along U.S. Highway 56 (Kansas Avenue within the City of McPherson). A large portion of this truck traffic consists of cattle trucks transporting feeder cattle from the pasture land of the Flint Hills region of east-central Kansas to the large-operation cattle feedlots in western Kansas counties. There is also hazardous materials truck traffic traveling along U.S. Highway 56. The City of McPherson has favored the building of a bypass route to the north of the city. This proposed highway 56 bypass would intersect existing highway 56 at areas both east and west of the city, would intersect with a proposed new interstate interchange with Interstate I-135 at the current location of Mohawk Road, and would expand on the right-of-way of Mohawk Road to initially accommodate a “super two” traffic lane configuration with the potential for future upgrading to a divided four-lane system at some time in the future.

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Favored by the county is a U.S. 56 Highway bypass that utilizes the existing state highway 61 (U.S. 81 bypass) already in place in King City Township, south of the city of McPherson. This appears to be a more logical option because of the following factors:

1. Approximately 1/3, or about three miles, of this route is already built and in place, with an interchange connection to I-135. 2. There are already in place a bridge over Turkey Creek and grade separations over intersecting roads and the Union Pacific Railroad in that area. 3. There is an existing connection with state highway 61 along that route providing an easy traffic connection to and from Hutchinson. 4. Fewer rural residential home sites would need to be relocated or adversely affected by highway traffic noise.

To build a U.S. Highway 56 bypass route to the north, however, would entail the construction of a new interchange connection at I-135 and Mohawk road, two new bridges over two creeks - Dry Turkey Creek and Bull Creek, two new highway-railroad crossings, and more rural residential home sites would be impacted.

County Highway System

Although ranked 20th in the state in population ranking, McPherson has the fourth-place ranking among counties for miles of paved roads and the seventh-place ranking in total miles of public roads maintained. McPherson County maintains 280 miles of asphalt paved county roadways, 24 miles of concrete surfaced roadways (old U.S. 81 highway), and 62 miles of gravel surfaced roadways. In relation to the county roadway system, the county maintains 450 bridges having a span of 20 feet or more and 716 bridges with spans of less than 20 feet. McPherson County has one of the largest inventories of roads and bridges among all of the state’s non-metropolitan rural counties. This system has been designed and built over the decades as a major component of the county agricultural infrastructure system.

Arterial roads should not be hindered by multiple accesses, which hinder their primary function. Access to arterial roads should be very limited, with intersecting collector roads spaced about 1,000 to 1,500 feet apart. Thus, intersecting collector roads should be limited to about three to four per mile. This approach has several benefits:

1. Fewer locations at which traffic conflicts occur. 2. Drivers have adequate time to respond to one access conflict at a time. 3. Conflict between turning vehicles and other vehicles is reduced. 4. Turbulence in the traffic flow is reduced with less stop-and-go traffic. 5. Traffic delays are reduced, thus reducing travel time. 6. Roadway capacity is preserved; thus, the public investment in the system is also preserved. 7. Community appearance improved and rural character preserved.

2 8. Investment in private property is preserved since investment in industrial, commercial, and office development is not reduced due to traffic congestion.

It is apparent that arterial-through roads should not be degraded by overburdening them with access points, as they then become clogged with vehicle conflict points and are degraded to being only able to serve local road access needs. This in turn brings about a perceived need for a new arterial-through road in the area. This phenomenon has been called the “transportation land use cycle.” It is depicted in Illustration 1: The Transportation Land Use Cycle.

Illustration 1. The Transportation Land Use Cycle

3 Two locations in McPherson County where the function of arterial roads has been degraded due to numerous access conflicts are the one-half mile of Highway 56 between old highway 81 Bypass and 13th Avenue and along the east side of 14th Avenue in the north half mile between Comanche Road and Dakota Road (800 block).

Most county roads at present have a right-of-way of 66 feet, 33 feet each side of the section lines. Additional right-of-way beyond 66 feet may be required based on future transit needs.

All new housing subdivisions of land that border on a county road should be required to provide, by dedication, additional right-of-way to bring the road right-of-way width to a minimum of 50 feet for proposed roads within the area of the proposed subdivision.

Direct access from abutting properties should be strictly controlled and access permits should be revocable, since future traffic conditions may warrant the establishment of a controlled access situation. Direct access to non-farm properties should be strictly controlled and access permits should be revocable, since future traffic conditions may warrant the establishment of a controlled access situation.

McPherson City/County Airport

The McPherson City/County airport is located on the west side of McPherson in McPherson and has been recently expanded. It is located west of Kansas Highway 153 (Highway 81 Bypass) and south of Avenue A/Kiowa Road. The airport has a 5,500 feet concrete runway able to accommodate 30,000-pound aircraft. There is a 15,000 square foot concrete apron, which will accommodate 21 aircraft tie-downs, three of which are for turbine jet aircraft. There are four hangers at the airport with a total storage area of 42,240 square feet.

The McPherson Airport Authority is responsible for reviewing, updating, and adopting an airport plan. The goal of the airport authority is to maintain viable airport service to the community.

The airport houses a Fixed Base Operator, Mac Air Corporation, which provides air-freight service and air-charter service to the community. Avis Rent-a-Car rental service is available at the airport.

Railroads in the County

The Union Pacific Railroad has several main lines traversing McPherson County. The Kansas and Oklahoma Railway serves the local market providing rail linkage for the Union Pacific main line, the BN/SF Railroad and for industries located in McPherson and at the petroleum and liquid petroleum gas facilities located at Conway, west of McPherson. (See Figure 6, County Road Map, for the location of county roads, state and federal highways and for rail lines that transverse the county.)

Solid Waste Collection and Disposal

4 Prior to the mid 1970's there were numerous open solid waste disposal sites in McPherson County. Each of the incorporated cities was responsible for its solid waste collection and disposal. Each of the incorporated cities had their own solid waste disposal site. Rural families either brought their solid waste to the nearest municipal site or discarded their solid waste on their own property by burning or other methods.

In 1973, the consulting firm of Bucher & Willis, consulting engineers, planners and architects, completed a solid waste management plan covering the entire county. Once this plan was adopted by the county and the incorporated communities, there were changes made to the methods of handling and disposing of solid waste county wide. Backyard burning of solid waste (paper, cardboard, etc.) was banned by the cities. In March of 1974, the county bought 40 acres of land in the SE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of section 16, T 18 S, R 3 W, New Gottland Township, as a location for a solid waste landfill. This was operated by a private company for several years. In March of 1991, the county-wide McPherson Area Solid Waste Utility was formed to operate county-wide solid waste collection and the county landfill. An additional 57.5 acres in the NE 1/4 of section 21 was bought in March of 1996. A state approved and Kansas Department of Health and Environment (K.D.H.E.) permitted sanitary solid waste landfill was permitted by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on the 40-acres of the SE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of section 16 on March 17, 1976. The headquarters and office of the Solid Waste Utility were established within a house located on the 57.5 acres to the south.

In 1994, the existing landfill in the SE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of section 16 began to run out of solid waste disposal landfill space. In January of 1995, the McPherson Area Solid Waste Utility applied to the McPherson County Planning Commission for a special-use permit to be able to expand the landfill vertically to a finished height of 25 feet above the average natural grade around the 40-acre site. After a public hearing before the planning commission, the Board of County Commissioners approved the vertical expansion on February 9, 1995. It was known that once the 25 feet vertical expansion was filled, the 40-acre landfill site would have to be closed in compliance with Kansas Department of Environmental Quality regulations. The McPherson Solid Waste Utility began planning on the possibility of opening a new landfill on the 57.5 acres directly to the south across Pueblo Road in the E1/2 of the NE 1/4 of section 21, T 18 S, R 3 W, also in New Gottland Township.

In April of 1995, the McPherson Area Solid Waste Utility applied for a special-use permit to develop a solid waste landfill on the 57.5 acres south of the operating landfill. At the public hearing held before the planning commission the evening of May 15, 1995, there was much vocal public opposition to the proposed new landfill location. The public hearing was continued during several subsequent meetings of the planning commission. Subsequently, the Solid Waste Utility requested that the application be tabled indefinitely.

In early 1997, the Solid Waste Utility had decided to forego the opening of a new landfill but opted instead to build and operate a solid waste transfer station. Industrially-zoned land was purchased in the NE 1/4 of section 23, T 19 S, R 3 W, McPherson Township just outside of the city limits of McPherson and on paved county road #319 - 17th Avenue. This location provides ready access to the City of McPherson, which generates the majority of the county’s solid waste,

5 and also ready access to I-135 for transfer shipment of solid waste to an out-of-county landfill. The site also has the potential for future rail siding service. The new 21,500 square feet transfer station building and two other related buildings were opened on March 27, 2000. Solid waste is presently being shipped (transferred) to the Reno County landfill, which is located southwest of Hutchinson, Kansas.

Even though the solid waste disposal issue has been solved for now, it is the opinion of the county planning commission that the county-owned acreage in New Gottland Township should be retained in public ownership, in the event that a local and publicly owned and operated landfill might become necessary in the future. In fact, additional acreage should perhaps be purchased for that possible future eventuality. This may be perhaps the best possible location for any future landfill needs as demonstrated by its selection as the initial county-wide landfill site. The area is remote from projected non-agricultural land development. The depth to water table is deep from the ground surface since the general area is at an elevation ranging from 1500 to 1525 feet above sea level and is at the division between two watersheds. The soils in the area are the Crete silt loam (Cs), the Ladysmith silty clay loam (La), and the Longford silty clay loam (Lo) soils. These soils are rated from slight to moderate for suitability for area-wide sanitary landfill, but all are rated as poor for daily landfill cover due to the clay content of the soils making for difficult soil compaction.

An inspection by the Board of County Commissioners during January 2002 revealed that the land fill in the SE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of section 16 of, T 18 S, R 3 W, New Gottland Township, had been closed and capped properly and was awaiting final KDHE approval. This landfill only accepts construction debris today.

Rural Water Districts

There are eleven separate rural water districts (RWD’s) that have territory within McPherson County, six which originate in McPherson County, RWD’s #1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. The lack of sufficient supplies of quality water in many areas of the county has lead to the formation of these districts over the years. Listed below is information about each of these ten rural water districts that have area in McPherson County. This information was gained from letter solicitation of each of the rural water districts conducted during January of 2002. (Boundaries to all of these districts can be found on Figure 7: Rural Water Districts Map.)

McPherson County Rural Water Districts

RWD #1: This district was formed in 1964 and generally serves the northeast corner of the county, including the unincorporated community of Roxbury. The district consists of 8.9 square miles and serves eighty-five (85) customers, four in Marion County and eighty-one in McPherson County. The number of customers has remained steady over the last ten years. It has one 9’ x 52’ standpipe with a capacity of 24,000 gallons. No wells are located in McPherson County, but three wells are located in Marion County. The pumping capacity is adequate, but the storage and line distribution is near maximum with daily use. The district is not considering

6 expanding its boundaries. The district is working on a source water assessment in cooperation with the Kansas Rural Water Association (KRWA).

RWD #2: This district was formed in 1970 and generally serves north and slightly east of the City of McPherson. The eastern boundary of the district is Interstate I-135. The district is approximately five (5) square miles and has sixty-seven (67) connections. The district’s contract to receive water from the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) is for 2 million gallons per month. The district uses about half of that amount during the peak months of the year. The district has a small building containing a pump and a backflow preventor located at the half-mile line on the south side of Moccasin Road. The district has the ability to accept applications for additional service connections.

RWD #3: This district was formed in 1972 and serves a small area southeast of the City of McPherson. It is bounded by East Avenue A on the north, Kansas Highway 61 on the south, the half mile line between Maxwell Road and 16th Avenue on the east and about a quarter of a mile west of South Maxwell Road on the west. It is 1.13 square miles in size. It originated with ten service connections. There are now fifteen service connections.

RWD #4: This district was formed during the mid 1970's and began serving 140 patrons in May of 1977. It consists of approximately sixty-nine (69) square miles of territory. It is generally located northeast of McPherson and north and directly southeast of the City of Galva. More specifically, the boundaries are south of Shawnee Road on the north, west of 25th Avenue on the east, north of Frontier Road on the south, and east of Interstate I-135 on the west. Today, there are 252 customers. Water is purchased from BPU with the average use being two million gallons per month. The district consists of over 100 miles of water lines, various pumps, and two standpipes.

RWD #5: This district was formed on October 31, 2000, and serves a small area north of the City of Canton. The district is one-and-a-half miles deep on both sides of 27th Avenue and runs six miles north of Canton. It contains eighteen (18) square miles of territory and serves twenty-four (24) users. The main line runs down 27th Avenue.

RWD #6: This district was formed in 2001. Its boundaries are the county line on the north, 20th Avenue on the east, Pawnee Road on the south, and 12th Avenue on the west, consisting of approximately fifty-four (54) square miles. The water supply is furnished from the City of Lindsborg. As of April 2003, sixty-one (61) miles of pipe have been laid and 156 meters have been installed. A stand-pipe is planned for construction near the intersection of 16th Avenue and Pueblo Road.

Rural Water Districts of Other Adjacent Counties

There are five other rural water districts that have territory in McPherson County, but these originate in counties adjacent to McPherson County. Information about these is listed below.

7 Dickinson County RWD #2: This district has about eight (8) square miles of territory located in the extreme northeast corner of McPherson County.

Marion County RWD #4: This district is the largest of any rural water district having area in McPherson County with 130 square miles. It originates in Marion County. In McPherson County, this district is located over most of the southeast portion of the county. Its western boundary roughly follows old Highway 81 in McPherson County. The district was incorporated in 1977, but did not actually begin pumping water until 1980. There are 184 service connections in McPherson County alone, and this number is growing. One source of water for this district is south of the City of Moundridge, where two wells are located. A booster pump station is located just east of Moundridge.

Rice County RWD #1: This district originates in Rice County, but has about 100 square miles of area in McPherson County. It serves the west central and southwest portion of McPherson County. It was formed in the early 1990's. Its water is from the City of Lyons and first began serving customers during 1994. There are 200 service connections in McPherson County. They have been adding a few customers per year, but they do not have the capacity to grow much more without major infrastructure improvements.

Saline County RWD #7: This district has about thirty (30) square miles of territory in the extreme northwest and north central portion of McPherson County. It purchases water from Ellsworth County RWD #2 (Post Rock) and began serving customers during 1990. It has fifty (50) service connections in McPherson County.

Saline County RWD #8: Created in 1981, this district was formerly #5, but was disbanded and reformed as #8. It entered with about three to four (3-4) square miles of territory in McPherson County’s extreme north central region in 1995. Interstate I-135 is roughly its western boundary, and Wells Fargo Road is roughly its southern boundary in the county. It has two (2) service connections in McPherson County. Located in Section 7, Township 17 South, Range 2 West of the 6th P.M. in McPherson County are two water wells and a chlorination and meter house.

Rural Fire Districts

In addition to rural water districts, McPherson County also has ten (10) rural fire districts. The following is information about some of these rural fire districts. The information listed below was gained from letter solicitation of each of the rural fire districts conducted during January of 2002. (See Figure 8: Fire Districts Map.)

FD#1: This district is 101 square miles in size and is located in the east-central portion of the county. During 2001, the board of county commissioners approved two conditional use permits to establish two separate new rural fire stations in this district. One was located at 2698 Pueblo Road, and the other was located at 960 26th Avenue. These were built to enhance rural fire protection and to lower fire insurance rates for property within the district.

8 FD#2: This district is ninety-three and a half (93.5) square miles in size and is located in the northwest corner of the county. The district was formed in 1966.

FD#3: This district is approximately sixty-three (63) square miles and is located in the west- central portion of the county.

FD#4: This district encompasses all of Jackson Township so it is thirty-six (36) square miles in size. The district was organized in 1967. The fire station, which is located in the unincorporated community of Conway, was built in 1966 and houses three fire trucks.

FD#5: This district, 149.5 square miles in size, is located in the southwest corner of the county and was formed in January of 1966.

FD#6: This district is sixty-eight (68) square miles in size and is located in the northeast corner of the county. It encompasses all of Gypsum Creek Township and almost all of Bonaville Township. A fire station is located in Roxbury.

FD#7: This district is about 104 square miles in size and located in the southeast corner of the county. It encompasses all of Mound Township and most of Lone Tree and Meridian Townships.

FD#8: This district is about eighty-one (81) square miles in size and is located in the north- central portion of the county. It encompasses all of Smoky Hill Township and most of Union Township. It was formed in June of 1966.

FD#9: This district is eighty-four (84) square miles in size and encompasses all of Empire and Delmore Townships. It was formed in 1975. During 2001, the district received approval from the board of county commissioners for a conditional-use permit to build a rural fire station. The station has been built and is located at 1993 21st Avenue. It was built to enhance rural fire protection and to lower fire insurance rates for property within the district.

FD#10: This district is ninety (90) square miles in size and is located in the south half of New Gottland Township north of the City of McPherson. The district also encompasses all of McPherson and King City Townships, as well as the City of McPherson. The fire station for the district is located inside the City of McPherson at 312 E. Kansas Avenue. This station went through a major renovation during 1999.

2. Public Improvement Programming

Generally, McPherson County handles the financing of public improvements on an ad hoc basis by budgeting for improvements in years prior to their construction. This applies to county buildings, facilities, and major equipment purchases. The county’s administration, working in conjunction with individual departments, drafts individual budgets for every fiscal year and then works to finalize the budgets of the individual departments weighing various funding mechanisms for desired projects or improvements. Once this process has been worked out, then

9 the proposed final budget is presented to the board of county commissioners for discussion, review, debate, and final adoption.

The public works department, an entity of McPherson County, has the responsibility of maintaining the county’s extensive road and bridge system. It has the largest individual segment at about 34.7% of the entire county budget, or 6.52 million dollars for 2003. This department budgets in a similar fashion to how the county does as described above, but with more emphasis given to future anticipated needs to repair, alter, or replace existing road and bridge structures.

The public works department determines the need to repair or replace roads and bridges based upon the condition of a structure and its relationship to public safety, use of the road segment or bridge structure based upon traffic counts and the amount of funding, if any, available at various times from state and federal transportation sources.

Each year, the public works department conducts inspections and traffic studies to determine the need to either repair, replace, or enhance a transportation structure or component of the county highway system. It typically plans approximately 1) five years into the future for road overlays, reconstructions and chip sealing, 2) one to two years into the future for bridge replacements, and 3) from one to four years into the future for building improvements for major equipment replacements or upgrades.

The county is undertaking the widening of the right-of-way widths of selected county roads to construct the driving lanes, shoulders and ditches with proper side slopes, as required.

3. Public Revenue & the Financing of Capital Facilities

The greatest proportion of revenue that comes to the county perennially is from collected taxes, mainly property taxes on existing and newly built structures in McPherson County. In 2001, revenue from all taxes was $9,987,589, or 61% of all revenue sources. The second largest category was from intergovernmental sources at 4.4 million dollars, or 26% of all revenue sources. The entire list of yearly revenues and expenditures can be seen in the McPherson County, Kansas, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, which is produced after the close of each calendar year. This is available at the county’s Administration Department located in the courthouse.

The construction of new facilities is financed with the issuance of general obligations bonds. The most significant capital facility expense that the county has is the solid waste authority utility. As indicated early in the plan, a transfer station was built recently to temporarily store the solid waste before it is transferred to Reno County. The only remaining outstanding bonds the county has are for this McPherson Area Solid Waste Authority transfer station. General obligations bonds were issued in 1999 for 20 years; however, the debt service payments are made from revenues generated from user fees and special assessments on all residential and commercial property.

10 In past fiscal years, the county has also budgeted periodically to fund various capital improvements or major equipment purchases. For the year 2001, no monies are budgeted for either of these two areas. The final debt service payment for the law enforcement center is August 1, 2004. Please see the above section for more information about public improvement programming.

4. The Use and Conservation of Natural Resources

Conservation, as a concept, has different meanings for different people and professions. Environmentalists may see it as a moral issue tied to humanity’s responsibility to safeguard certain resources for the use of future generations. Technical workers may see it as methods to use to retard soil erosion, plant and manage trees, or manage wildlife resources. Sportsmen may see it as methods to improve hunting and fishing opportunities. Evangelistic-minded conservationists may view it as methods for securing “the greatest good for the greatest number - and for the longest time.”1

Conservation can be defined in many ways. The American Heritage Dictionary defines conservation as: 1) the act or process of conserving, or 2) the controlled use and systematic protection of natural resources, such as forests and waterways. For purposes of this comprehensive plan, conservation would probably best be defined as, “...the controlled use and systematic protection of land, and the natural resources and functions associated with land and its use.”

The idea of preserving land for the use of future generations, but not using it in the present, has never gained popular support. Most people are negative toward the concept of non-use of land. Most people favor the maintenance and saving of land resources, but only if that is consistent with effective current use of land. This is a strongly held philosophy among the public. Thus, the conservation of land resources must emphasize the need for orderly and efficient land resource use, elimination of economic and social waste in land use, and the maximization of social net returns over time. Viewed in this context, conservation, as used in this comprehensive plan, is concerned primarily with the use of land resources over a period of time. This plan deals with the public and private decisions of allocating the use of land resources between present and future generations and with county policies and subsequent actions to assure the future usable supply of land resources. It very much involves the determination of how or how not to use land resources or when and whether to change the use of land resources.

Conservation of Soils Resources

With proper management, most agricultural soils can be used and still retain their productive capacity over a very long period of time. Soil conservation does not require the retention of every particle of soil on the cultivated farm field. New soil resources are formed every year, and

1Charles R. Van Hise, The Conservation of Natural Resources in the United States (New York: MacMillan, 1910), p. 379 11 most soil conservation specialists agree that soils can maintain their productivity if soil losses from erosion are kept below four tons per acre per year. The McPherson County Conservation District office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture works with farmers and ranchers to educate them about the importance and various methods of soil conservation and maintaining wind breaks.

Conservation of Groundwater Resources

The groundwater resources of McPherson County are one of its most important resources. The Equus Beds aquifer is the principal source of fresh and usable water in south central Kansas. The Equus Beds Groundwater Management District No. 2 was formed in 1975 to manage groundwater supplies within its boundaries. The district manages the groundwater resource on two fundamental principles: 1) to limit groundwater withdrawal to not exceed annual recharge, and 2) to maintain it by protecting the water quality and remediate any deterioration of water quality. (See Figure 2 of this plan for more information about the ground water resources of the county.)

The county, through its planning policies and land use regulations, can assist in protecting both the quantity and the quality of the Equus Beds groundwater resource. Groundwater recharge areas perform an important function in supplying water to the underground Equus Beds aquifer. Development over these recharge areas should be controlled and limited. Urban sprawl and housing, along with excessive coverage of the recharge areas with impervious surfaces, should be prevented in order that surface water can percolate down through the soils in these recharge areas. (See Figure 3, for the Groundwater Recharge Area Map.)

Non-farm development in these recharge areas should be limited because of the increased potential for groundwater pollution. Excessive housing development with on-site wastewater systems can increase the likelihood of associated pollutants reaching the aquifer. Fertilization of lawns can possibly cause nitrogen pollution of the aquifer. Because of these concerns, it is recommended that a 40-acre minimum lot size requirement be adopted for each new residence within these identified aquifer recharge areas.

Although the county has no jurisdiction over agricultural operations, certain agricultural activities could also endanger the Equus Beds aquifer in these identified recharge areas.

Protection of Groundwater Quality for Public Water Supply Wells

Along with Equus Beds Groundwater Management District #2 monitoring groundwater quantities and qualities in the county, local rural water districts and the cites of Canton, Galva, Inman, Lindsborg, McPherson, and Moundridge have all adopted Wellhead Protection Plans for public water supply systems. These plans were developed during a time frame from1996 to 2000. They involved local citizens, the soil conservation service, the groundwater management district, local city officials, the county health department, the county planning and zoning department, elected officials and officials with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE).

12 Each plan delineates the area of groundwater that is affected by the pumping of public water wells, lists existing environmental hazards surrounding the wells, and lists steps to be undertaken by the public and public officials to help protect groundwater supplies. These plans are to be reviewed periodically.

5. Development Hazards.

Natural Hazard Areas

There are two common natural hazard areas present in McPherson County: flood plain areas and areas of land surface subsidence.

As noted previously, the major rivers within McPherson County include the Smoky Hill River, the Little Arkansas River, and the North Cottonwood River. The North Cottonwood River originates in McPherson County. These major rivers, and the larger creeks that drain into them, constitute flood prone areas within the county. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has mapped and categorized the 100-year flood plain along these rivers and creeks. The 100-year flood plain is that area which has a one percent chance of being flooded in any given year. The FEMA identified flood hazard areas have been mapped on a series of maps known as Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM), and the community number on the maps is 200214. It is current county policy that residential buildings and other buildings will not be allowed to be built in identified flood hazard areas when the landowner has suitable land outside of the flood hazard on which to locate the buildings.

Land surface subsidence is caused by natural or induced dissolving of the thick underground Hutchinson salt bed. Like most sedimentary formations, this salt bed is not horizontal but is inclined gently downward toward the west. Because of this inclination, the salt bed is fairly near the ground surface in a broad zone extending approximately north-south from near Salina, and just west of Lindsborg and McPherson, and east of Hutchinson. (See Figure 9, Hazard Areas Map.) Along this broad zone, the Hutchinson salt formation is very slowly being dissolved by fresh groundwater and this dissolution is causing slow ground surface subsidence. This land surface subsidence is usually a slow process with no sudden catastrophic collapse at the land surface. At first the depressions are shallow enough that water draining into them evaporates during dry periods, or it slowly percolates into the soil. Over time the depressions may become larger and deeper.

Geologists have long recognized ancient sinks in this area of McPherson County. Lake Inman, for example, is a large water-filled sinkhole. The Big Basin, a few miles west of McPherson, and the Chain of Lakes wetlands are the result of this process. This process of solution subsidence has been going on in the area for hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of years. In some instances it is believed that abandoned, unplugged oil wells may have acted as a conduit for groundwater to rapidly reach down to and erode the underlying salt formation, thus creating some sinkholes in the county.

13 In the early 1990's, a residence had to be removed from the SE1/4 of the SE1/4 of section 20, T 20 S, R 4 W due to subsidence over many years, at least since 1972. The county roads of Comanche Road (Co. Rd. 445) and 8th Avenue (Co. Rd. 446) intersect at this location, and in recent years the county has had to raise the roadbeds and rebuild these roads in this area, at quite a bit of expense. (See Figure 9, Hazard Areas Map)

There are some small localized areas in McPherson County where land slippage may present some concerns for the placement of buildings and other physical improvements.

In McPherson County, very local and relatively small landslides may occur during wet years in the hilly country underlain by the Dakota formation in northwestern McPherson County.

McPherson County is located in seismic risk zone 1 according to the standard earthquake risk map of the United Sates. Only one significant earthquake has been recorded in McPherson County during the period that records of such events have been kept - about 130 years. The earthquake occurred about 3:30 a.m. on January 7, 1927 near the city of McPherson. It was rated at an intensity of IV on the Modified Mercalli scale (not to be confused with the Richter scale used today to measure earthquake events). This was a rather small earthquake. It awoke light sleepers and rattled a few dishes. It was reported that a keystone fell out of the arch of a window in one bank building. The approximate epicenter of the quake event coincides with a deeply buried fault, which may have been the source of the earthquake. (From a letter by Frank W. Wilson, Chief of Environmental Geology, Kansas Geological Survey, dated August 2, 1977.)

Man-Made Hazards

Along with naturally occurring hazards in the county, there are man-made potential hazards as well.

Underground propane is stored, loaded, and unloaded in salt caverns located in and around the vicinity of the unincorporated area of Conway in the southwest portion of T19S, R4W of the 6th p.m. and also in the eastern portion of T19S, R5W of the 6th p.m. Both of these areas are located several miles directly west of the City of McPherson. The practice of storing propane gas underground has existed for some time, but it does pose hazards to the natural environment and to man in the form of contaminating groundwater supplies or posing risks due to fires or explosion.

Conway was an unincorporated area with many households in it, but it was declared unsafe for humans on private water supplies because of contaminated groundwater during the late 1970's. Today there are only one or two permanent residents of the area.

Refineries pose large man-made hazards in the form of pollution, fire, explosions and land covered oil spills. These types of hazards are always present with such large and intensive industrial uses. It is wise that refineries have a large land base surrounding the main processing facility to buffer them from other uses.

14 In addition, underground, high-pressure pipelines running through the county pose hazards to the public. Whether oil or natural gas, pipelines create the threat of environmental contaminations, fire, or explosions.

Anhydrous ammonia storage and staging areas are also located in the county. These present large hazards as this substance is stored, transferred, and handled throughout the county. When anhydrous ammonia, which is in a liquid form when stored in a tank, is released into the environment, whether as a normal farm fertilizer, or by accident, it can injure humans or corrode metals.

Each of the above-listed, man-made hazards should be taken into account when new residential uses in the form of subdivisions are proposed to be platted in the county. Residential uses and high-hazard land uses should not be allowed to be adjacent uses.

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