Nov 14 - McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Darrin Stineman The Salina Journal, Kan.

Salina's stretch of the Smoky Hill River nearly ran dry last summer, even though annual rainfall wasn't far below the longtime average.

That led City Commissioner Abner Perney to the conclusion that it could be depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer -- a vast underground reservoir that covers much of western Kansas -- that caused flow to deteriorate so significantly.

That's why Perney proposed to the rest of the city commission on Monday that it take a formal position to oppose the proposed sevenfold expansion of Sunflower Electric Power Corp. in southwest Kansas.

The Sunflower plant is near Holcomb, which is just west of Garden City. The energy firm wants to build three coal-fired generating units, which would use about 30,000 acre feet of water a year. To put that into perspective, that's about four times what the city of Salina uses annually.

City officials are concerned that drain on the Ogallala could lead to further depletion of the Smoky, which typically provides 60 percent of Salina's water supply.

"This aquifer is a recharge area for the Smoky Hill River west of (Kanopolis) Reservoir," City Manager Jason Gage told the commission.

"A significant water user there, over time, could affect the recharge capability of the aquifer for the Smoky Hill River, and possibly the amount of water that goes into Kanopolis Reservoir. Certainly, if there's a direct relationship and there's something we can do, this might be it."

Perney had hoped the city commission could approve a resolution opposing the plant expansion in time for a Kansas Department of Health and Environment public hearing on the matter set for Thursday in Lawrence. But that didn't happen.

Because the city commissioners just received information on the proposal on Monday, Mayor Donnie Marrs proposed that the matter be postponed until thecity commission meeting. The postponement passed by a 3-2 vote, with commissioners Debbie Divine and John Vanier supporting Marrs' motion and Perney and Commissioner Alan Jilka opposing it.

The original motion was to postpone it until themeeting, but it was moved after Perney and Divine said they would be gone that day.

Perney said waiting untilto make a decision could significantly crimp the effectiveness of an opposition resolution, because the deadline for comment is, and the shot at the public hearing would be missed.

"This plant will be running virtually around the clock and will be drawing water the most when it's the hottest and when the agricultural season is in its height," Perney said. "As far as the aquifer is concerned, it will be pouring more water into that location than it ever has before, and by a factor of five or six times of what it has been doing for the past 23 years."

Not doing enough Divine said she appreciated Perney's concerns about the project, but the approach to environmental issues facing Kansas must be broader than going after the plant expansion.

"The state of Kansas is working on a statewide energy plan," Divine said. "I think it's time that not only Salina but Kansas, the United States of America and the world start realizing we have many unintended consequences of what we do, including energy consumption.

I'm concerned about this Holcomb plant, but I don't think this goes far enough, quite frankly."

Gage's report to the commission indicated air emissions from the plant would meet federal standards, "but will undoubtedly add waste particulates and gases commonly known as 'greenhouse gasses' to the atmosphere."

During a time for public comment, Wes Jackson, president and founder of the Land Institute, said the state of the environment has reached a critical point.

"We find ourselves in some respects in the most important period in the history of humans since agriculture began," Jackson told the commission. "This is the period of most rapid climate change."

The Land Institute, 2440 E. Water Well, is a research organization dedicated to developing sustainable agriculture.

"This particular plant out at Holcomb, that's 2,100 megawatts. That's going to be the largest coal-fired plant west of the Mississippi. It seems to me for Kansas to allow that to be the poster child for global warming or rapid climate change is not living up to our long tradition of being on the forefront of acknowledging necessity."

Jackson said he plans to testify at the Thursday meeting in Lawrence.

"Here's what the models show," he said. "The southern Great Plains are going to be hotter and drier. And how much hotter and drier and how fast is going to depend on the rate of burning the fossil fuels.

In 2100, according to some, this place could look like a little south and west of Albuquerque."

Information Gage presented to the commission indicated the plant expansion would add about 1,400 jobs during the construction phase and 66 employees for long-term operation. However, two-thirds of the plant would be used to serve Colorado, and Kansas would receive no more than 8 percent of its power.

Jilka said the plant presents several issues, but he supported approving the opposition resolution, because the water issue is so pressing for Salina.

"This is an issue that none of us -- city staff or commissioners -- took seriously enough until this summer," Jilka said. "It wasn't until after the river practically dried up that we realized, 'Wow, that just isn't a problem that affects western Kansas. That affects us.' "