KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT BILL GRAVES, GOVERNOR Gary R. Mitchell, Secretary

December 19, 1997

Contact: Don Snethen, Section Chief

KDHE Nonpoint Source Section

785-296-5558

Dr. Daniel Devlin, Extension Specialist

Dr. Paul Ohlenbusch, Extension Specialist

KSU County Extension Program

785-532-5776

KDHE Issues $174,600 in Water Pollution Control Grants to K-State

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has issued two water pollution control grants totaling $174,600 to Kansas State University. Both will be carried out as part of Governor Graves' Water Quality Initiative.

"The first grant specifically addresses efforts to prevent atrazine from reaching public water supplies," said Don Snethen, section chief for the KDHE Nonpoint Source Section. "The second will seek to reduce pollutants such as fecal coliform bacteria in grazing land runoff.

Atrazine, a common herbicide, is believed to increase the risk for cancer in humans. The fecal materials found on grazing lands contain disease-causing microbes. When there is rain or snow, the herbicide and the microbes can drain into rivers and streams, and be carried into public water supplies, posing a potential public health hazard. This phenomenon, which also applies to cities and industrial facilities, is known as nonpoint source pollution.

An $80,000 grant will enable K-State to provide education and assistance to farmers in selecting water quality measures to reduce the loss of atrazine from cropland. The project will take place in the Blue River drainage above Tuttle Creek Reservoir and the Delaware River drainage above Perry Lake of the Kansas Lower Republican River Basin. 1998 will be the first year of funding for this three-year project. The project is being financed by Clean Water Act Section 319 grant funds allocated by EPA to the states.

K-State will also implement a $94,600 grant to develop and demonstrate water quality protection measures for grazing land. The project is starting in the Black Vermillion watershed of the Kansas Lower Republican River Basin but will be extended to other areas of the state. 1998 will be the second year of funding for this five-year project. The first year was financed by Kansas Water Plan funds; 1998 and subsequent years will be through Clean Water Act funds.

"Participation in these projects is completely voluntary. Projects like these are the most successful when people decide to take action because they care," said Snethen.

Cities located in the Kansas Lower Republican River Basin include: Belleville;

Clay Center; Hiawatha; Holton; Junction City; Lawrence; Manhattan; Mankato; Marysville; Kansas City, Kan.; Olathe; Overland Park; Topeka; Washington; and others.