E-News for June 20, 2022

06/20/2022 - Weekly KRWA E-News

Dodge City Enters ‘Water Watch’ Due to Drought, Residents Asked to Conserve
Dodge City last week began asking residents to conserve water due to the current heat wave and ongoing drought conditions. “The City of Dodge City will enter a Stage 1: Water Watch,” said Director of Public Works Corey Keller. “The goals of this stage are to heighten awareness of the public of water conditions and maintain the integrity of the water supply system.” Residents are urged to discontinue any unnecessary watering and make efficient use of indoor water, i.e., wash full loads, take short showers, do not let faucets run, etc. [source]

 

EPA: ‘Forever Chemicals’ Pose Risk Even at Very Low Levels
The EPA last week issued new nonbinding health advisories that set health risk thresholds for PFOA and PFOS to near zero, replacing 2016 guidelines that had set them at 70 parts per trillion. The revised health guidelines are based on new science and consider lifetime exposure to the chemicals, the EPA said. Officials are no longer confident that PFAS levels allowed under the 2016 guidelines “do not have adverse health impacts,'' an EPA spokesman said. The EPA said it expects to propose national drinking water regulations for PFOA and PFOS later this year, with a final rule expected in 2023. The toxic nonstick and stain-resistant compounds found in drinking water are byproducts from the industrial manufacturing of many consumer products including cardboard packaging, carpets and firefighting foam. They are associated with serious health conditions, including cancer and reduced birth weight. [source]

 

NASA Flying 13 Miles Above Kansas to Study Severe Thunderstorms
In continuation of a research project started last summer, the Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere — consisting of about 50 scientists from eight universities and four NASA labs across the country — is interested in the effect on the Earth’s stratosphere from powerful thunderstorms known as overshooting storms. Overshooting storms can carry large amounts of water and pollutants from the lower atmosphere into the stratosphere, which can potentially affect both climate and the amount of ozone in the atmosphere. As a result, this can contribute to climate change. The team has been in Salina since late May and launch flights every two to three days. The flights last from seven to eight hours and reach altitudes of up to 70,000 feet, about twice as high as an airliner usually flies. The pilot has to wear a full space suit and helmet to stay in a pressurized environment because of how high they are. [source]

 

Second Kansan Joins US House Agriculture Committee
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids last week was recommended to serve on the House Agriculture Committee. The agriculture committee oversees the U.S. Department of Agriculture and has jurisdiction over all aspects of agriculture, forestry, nutrition, water conservation, and other agriculture-related fields. The recommendation now goes to the full Democratic Caucus for approval. [source]

 

Kansas Universities Get $24 Million to Research Disaster Response Tools
A new research initiative - Adaptive and Resilient Infrastructures driven by Social Equity - is providing universities and colleges in Kansas with $24 million to research how the state can better support residents before and after disaster emergencies. The National Science Foundation is administering the funds as part of the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), which supports research and development that historically receive smaller shares of federal funding. “Kansans are rightly proud of their ability to recover from natural disasters, but the state faces disasters of a kind and at a frequency we’ve not seen before,” said Simon Atkinson, vice chancellor for research at the University of Kansas. “The factors that determine resilience are complex and can only be tackled by working across traditional disciplines and leveraging the intellectual resources of all the state’s research universities.” [source]

 

Kansas Water System Wins National Awards, Declared “Best Of The Best” 
KRWA would like to congratulate WaterOne in Kansas City, Kansas, for winning both the Best of the Best Water Taste Test and the People's Choice Water Taste Test during AWWA's Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE22) in San Antonio, Texas. The Best of the Best Water Taste Test is determined by an esteemed panel of judges, and the People's Choice Taste Test is selected by conference attendees. The system has won several prior awards, including the Best Tasting Water in Kansas during the KRWA 51st Annual Conference & Exhibition, in March 2018, and then won NRWA's Great American Water Taste Test during 2021. WaterOne is an independent water utility serving the Johnson County, Kansas, area since 1957. It draws water from dual sources on the Kansas and Missouri Rivers and utilities ozone treatment and membrane filtration at its two water treatment plants. [source]

 

Odessa Water Line Break Leaves Residents Without Water for Nearly 48 Hours
Residents of the West Texas city of Odessa improvised emergency water supplies after a major water line break on Monday left them high and dry for most of last week amid scorching heat, as utility crews scrambled last week to restore normal service. The outage left about 165,000 people without water. Odessa officials haven’t specified exactly what caused the 24-inch line to break but have pointed to the city’s aging water system as being a problem. The broken line is about 60 years old. Water service was being restored on Thursday after the line was repaired. [source]

 

The Difference Between Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke
Getting overheated can happen to anyone regardless of age and fitness level. Kids and young adults playing sports, and adults whose jobs require them to be outside for long periods of time are all susceptible to the possibility of both heat exhaustion and heat stroke if they don't properly take care of themselves. Taking frequent breaks and staying properly hydrated are both keys to preventing a heat-related illness. But neither is guaranteed to keep you from feeling the effects of the hot summer sun. The two most common heat-related illnesses are heat exhaustion and heat stroke. While the two share some similar qualities, they each have their own distinctive symptoms that can be the difference between treating them yourself, or requiring the assistance of a medical professional. [source]

 

KRWA Sponsored Water & Wastewater Training

June 21: Protecting Against Cyber Attacks; Safety Issues (Online)
June 22: Back to the Basics of Lagoon Operation (Girard)
June 23: Wastewater Lagoon Operation & Maintenance (Beloit)
June 30: Beginning QuickBooks (Independence)
July 13-14: Troubleshooting Motors and Variable Speed Drives (South Hutchinson) 

 

Drought Monitor
Summer officially begins this week. And while much of the High Plains Region has seen beneficial rainfall over the past 30 days, the cool, wet conditions quickly turned hot and humid as a ridge of high pressure intensified over Kansas. Only minor improvements were depicted on the latest U.S. Drought Monitor and a majority of the western half of Kansas remains in some form of drought. Dodge City posted a low temperature of 83 degrees on Monday, its warmest minimum temperature ever observed in any month of the year. The rapid onset of the heat and humidity killed thousands of cattle in western Kansas last week, and sizzling temperatures continued to threaten livestock throughout the week and weekend. The farming journal AgWeb.com reported the number of dead cows could be as high as 10,000, and more have been reported dead in neighboring Nebraska. Cattle began suffering heat stress as temperatures and humidity spiked over the weekend of June 11 and 12, as cooling winds disappeared, said Scarlett Hagins, spokesperson for the Kansas Livestock Association. The animals could not acclimate to the sudden change, she said. Temperatures are expected to continue to hover around the triple digits into at least early this week with minimal rain chances. Meanwhile, rangeland wildfire continues to be a concern as 700 acres were burned early last week in Finney County. The latest U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook indicates drought will remain entrenched across the western half of Kansas, with overall above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation across the entire state during the summer months.

Current U.S. Drought Monitor maps for:
Arkansas River Basin, High Plains Region, North-Central Region, Southern Plains Region and State of Kansas