Sheridan County 6 LEMA

News:

The Northwest Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 4 (GMD No. 4) has requested the renewal of the Sheridan 6 Local Enhanced Management Area (LEMA). The chief engineer has scheduled a public hearing to determine whether the LEMA should be renewed as proposed. The hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m. on July 26, 2022 at the Sheridan County Courthouse, 925 9th Street, Hoxie, Kansas. Further details can be found in the notice of hearing and in the pre-hearing order.

Additional related documents and support material have been added to this website in the "SD6 LEMA Support Materials" table below.

August 24, 2017 - the Chief Engineer, upon review of the record from the public hearing of May 31, 2017, issued an order formally accepting the proposed Sheridan 6 Local Enhanced Management Plan (LEMA) for the period 2018-2022.  An order of designation will be issued in the coming weeks with the specifics of the LEMA’s corrective controls pursuant to the plan requested by GMD 4.

March 6, 2017 - Sheridan 6 LEMA extensions for years 2018-2022 found acceptable for consideration. Hearings held may 31, 2017 at the Sheridan County Courthouse in Hoxie. A letter from DWR regarding the review and hearings can be found here.

February 17, 2017 - GMD 4 submitted a request to DWR for the re-formulation of the Sheridan 6 LEMA.

Sheridan County 6 Boundary

SD6 LEMA Support Materials:

Description Document File File Size Document Date Provided by
SD-6 Advisory Committee Meeting Report and Handouts Advisory Committee Report 6 MB 03/28/2019 Advisory Committee 
Environmental Research Letter on Quantifying Irrigation Adaption Strategies in Response to Stakeholder-driven Groundwater Management in the US High Plains Aquifer Environmental Research Letter 1 MB 01/14/2019 MSU
Dr. Bill Golden's Report on Monitoring the Impacts of the SD6 LEMA LEMA Monitoring Report 439 KB 11/15/2018 Golden
Effects of Collective Action Water Poly on Kansas Farmers' Irrigation Decisions: The Case of the SD6 LEMA ACCC Fact Sheet 331 KB  01/25/2016 KSU

2023-2027 SD6 LEMA Documents:
Document File
Size		 Document
Date		 Provided by 
Request to Renew and Management Plan
 8 MB
 10/20/2021
 GMD4

Written Testimony for 2023-2027 SD6 LEMA Hearings:
Description File Size Document Date Provided by
GMD No. 4
 22 MB
 07/26/2022
 GMD4
Kelly Stewart
 688 KB 07/22/2022 DWR

2018-2022 SD6 LEMA Documents:
Description Document File File Size Document Date Provided by
Chief Engineer's Order of Designation for 2018-2022 Order of Designation 751 KB 11/07/2017 DWR
Order of Decision on Acceptance SD6 Management Plan Order 2018 to 2022 159 KB  08/24/2017 DWR
Findings and Order Establishing Initial Requirements         SD6 LEMA Order and Exhibits 4 MB  05/31/ 2017 DWR
Response to Request DWR response to request for re-formulation 867 KB 03/06/2017 DWR
Re-formulation Request SD6 Re-Formulation Request by GMD 4 518 KB 2/02/2017 GMD4

2013-2017 SD6 LEMA Documents:

Description Document File File Size Document Date Provided by
Initial Proposal LEMA.SD6.InitProposal.20120615.pdf 740 KB 3/1/2012 GMD4 Board of Directors
Chief Engineer finds plan acceptable for consideration LEMA.SD6.CE.acceptForConsideration.20120803.pdf 350 KB 8/3/2012 DWR
Notice of initial hearing LEMA.SD6.NoticeInitHearing.pdf 310 KB 8/3/2012 DWR
Order from initial hearing SD6.Initial.Order.pdf 830 KB 10/4/2012 DWR
Notice of second hearing LEMA.SD6.second.public.hearing.notice 1 MB 10/10/2012 DWR
Hearing Management Order No. 1 Hearing Order1- Designation of SD 6 LEMA 12 WATER 8366.pdf 2 MB 11/19/2012 DWR
Order of Decision
 LEMA.SD6.OrderOfDecision.20121231.pdf 766 KB
 12/31/2012 DWR
Order of Designation LEMA.SD6.OrderOfDesignation.20130417.pdf 798 KB 4/17/2013 DWR 
First annual report of the advisory committee LEMA.SD6.AnnualReport.2013.pdf
 
LEMA.SD6.Newsletter.Dec2013.pdf
 
LEMA.SD6.AdvCommHandouts.Nov2013.pdf		 298 KB 12/20/2013 GMD4
115 KB 12/20/2013
569 KB  11/26/2013 
Formal review, 2016 Formal Review of the SD-6 LEMA 4.4 MB 12/15/2016 GMD4
Advisory committee report, 2016 Sheridan 6 LEMA Annual Review, 2016 1.3 MB 12/31/2016  GMD4

Initiated:

  • July 12, 2012 Approved by Board of Directors, Northwest Kansas GMD No. 4
  • July 16, 2012 Sheridan 6 LEMA Proposal transmitted to DWR. The proposal includes legal descriptions of sections to be included in the LEMA, sets a goal for limiting water use, and specifies proposed management actions to achieve the goal. See link in Documents section below.

Reasons for recommendation:

  • To reduce groundwater decline rates and extend the life of the aquifer
  • Rate of withdrawal of groundwater in that area appears to exceed the recharge rate

Public Hearings:

  • The initial public hearing for the Sheridan 6 LEMA was held on Thursday, September 13, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. at the Sheridan County Courthouse, which is located at 925 9th Street, Hoxie, Kansas 67740. See notice and the hearing officer order in Documents section below.
  • In the October 4, 2012 order on behalf of the chief engineer, the hearing officer found that the record of evidence submitted for the September 13 initial public hearing warrants continuing the process towards establishing the Sheridan 6 LEMA.
  • The second of the two public hearings required to establish a LEMA was held on November 28, 2012 at 10:30 at the Sheridan County Courthouse in Hoxie. It considered whether GMD #4's recommended corrective control provisions for the proposed Sheridan 6 LEMA should be adopted.
  • In his December 31, 2012 Order of Decision, the chief engineer accepted the enhanced management plan for the Sheridan 6 LEMA.

Orders:

  • On Wednesday, April 17, 2013, the chief engineer issued his Order of Designation setting forth the complete terms for the Sheridan 6 LEMA.

Links:

Northwest Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 4

GMD4 Sheridan 6 High Priority Area Page

Senate Bill 310 of 2012, authorizing the LEMA process

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