Governor Kelly Attends the 2023 Governor’s Conference on the Future of Water

MANHATTAN, Kan. (WIBW) - The 2023 Governor’s Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas was held today in Manhattan at the Hilton Garden Inn.

The 12th annual conference offered keynote speakers, panelists, and Governor Laura Kelly. It highlighted the latest policy and research developments on water issues in Kansas as well as the updated Kansas Water Plan. Some of the panels spoke about groundwater quality concerns, the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer, and much more. With the drought in Kansas, there are many challenges the state is facing regarding the decline of being a water supply state.

”We need to do things differently and we need to do things aggressively to make sure that we have an adequate and safe water supply going into the future and those kinds of approaches and technologies and partnerships get talked about here at the conference and partnerships are really key,” said Connie Owen, director for the Kansas Water Office.

Last week Governor Kelly announced the creation of a Water Subcabinet to build a collaborative, all-of-government approach to water issues and programs. The subcabinet includes representatives from the Kansas Water Office and the Kansas Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Environment, and Wildlife and Parks.

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