Kansas Water Symposium v2.0
March 7th, 2026 - 8:30am - 4:00pm
Dyck Arboretum of the Plains
177 W. Hickory Street
Hesston, KS 67062
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Water is critical to Kansans. We rely on clean, safe water daily for our survival and comfort. Yet, when something is always there, do we truly value it – or take it for granted?
The precious resource is delivered from dammed stream reservoirs in the eastern part of Kansas, and the ancient underground Ogallala Aquifer in the western part. A sophisticated and mostly hidden infrastructure extracts, cleans and delivers water to faucets that meet our needs.
Because this system is so proficient and out of mind, we simply take water for granted. We consume it without much thought when it is plentiful, and only when scarcity hits do we begin to fret and conserve.
The growing imbalance between supply and demand is not in our favor. Soil erosion is filling our reservoirs with sediment and the Ogallala diminishes every year. The thirsty population of Kansas is steadily increasing along with the world’s hunger for water intensive grain and meat, two big parts of our Kansas economy.
This growing imbalance is already serious, but weather is the wild card that can quickly turn a concern into a crisis. Only those who lived through the last big drought in the 1950s remember how crippling those years were. Few water managers or decision-makers remain today who lived through the droughts of the 30s and 50s that shaped earlier conservation attitudes.
Do you remember the drought conditions in 2011 and 2012? Those years pushed us at Dyck Arboretum to focus our spring symposium on water. Our March 2015 Kansas Water Symposium was packed with experts and it was probably the best-planned education event we had ever prepared. But drought conditions subsided before the symposium occurred, and conversations about conservation evaporated. The result? Attendance plummeted – our lowest-attended symposium ever. A clear reminder that when the thirst is quenched, the discussion dries up.
More than a decade later, even with a rainy 2025, the long-term scarcity of water hasn’t gone away. A few wet months don’t erase decades-long trends, and we are determined not to repeat the mistake of waiting for a crisis. That’s why we are tackling this challenge again now.
We are partnering with community members who share an interest in environmental stewardship. With their help and a packed slate of knowledgeable water managers from around the state, we are excited to present our Kansas Water Symposium 2.0 on March 7, 2026. Here is our preliminary speaker lineup:
Click HERE to register and secure your spot at the Symposium. Your $25 registration will include a continental breakfast and lunch.
Mark Twain is often credited for the quote “Whisky’s for drinking and water’s for fighting.” Let’s educate ourselves and work together on solutions now, while water is plentiful – so we never have to face the fight.
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In anticipation of this event, join us for three free Zoom discussions on acclaimed books covering various angles of water. The dates, times, texts covered, and Zoom registration links are as follows:
- January 6 (6:30 -8:00 p.m.) Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie by Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty (while the whole book discusses elements of water, we will focus on Chapter 8 – Water)
- February 3 (6:30 -8:00 p.m.) The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan
- March 3 (6:30 -8:00 p.m.) Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains by Lucas Bessire