News:

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.

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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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