At Tuesday's Wichita City Council workshop, we learned more about the city's response to the drought, the effects on Cheney Lake and a status report on the new Northwest Water Treatment facility.
Wichita remains in Stage 2 drought restrictions, which began last August. Cheney Lake’s level is currently 7.5 feet below normal, at 62.1 percent full, according to the 12-month moving average. The Equus Bed aquifer, the city's groundwater supply, is at 92 percent full.
Public works is currently treating a 60-40 blend of ground water versus Cheney water. That percentage could change after testing is completed and the new plant becomes fully operational this Fall. The city says if necessary, they could treat 100 percent ground water.
As a necessary part of testing process, water from the new plant is being dumped into the Big Ditch. Some of that water is partially recharging the local aquifer but the rest is simply running downstream.
Public works Director Gary Janzen says that some of the test water will soon shift to a pipeline for future distribution to the Hess Pump station. The city is developing a plan for a fill station near Hess to capture test water, to be used by Botanica and landscape contractors.
The city is investigating several ways to make the water supply more resilient.
Staff will continue discussions with the Wichita Area Builders Association about using drought-resistant landscaping, like native grasses, and moving away from fescue. They also plan to revise conservation recommendations.
The city is also looking into the possibility reusing water after it is treated at the sewer facility. Currently, Spirit uses about 385 million gallons of treated water per year for industrial use. The Wichita region uses about 50 million gallons of water each day and water reuse could supply around 30 million gallons. Request for proposals for a reuse consultant will come before the council in May.
The city will build two new aquifer recharge basins in 2025 as well.