The City of Wichita’s Aquifer Storage & Recovery (ASR) project diverts water from the Little Arkansas River when the river flows are high, treats it to drinking water standards and injects the processed water into the Equus Beds aquifer. By doing this, the City accumulates recharge credits with the Kansas Department of Agriculture allowing it to withdraw this additional water from the Equus Beds aquifer when needed. The ability to establish and utilize these credits is critical to ensuring the City can meet the demand during an extended drought.
The public hearing originally scheduled for October 22, 2018 was held December 11, 2018 in Wichita, Kansas. An additional hearing is tentatively planned for March 26, 2019.