6A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
---
STATENEWS
图
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2002
spacetribe presents
STOLI PARTY
@ LUCKY BREWGRILLE
APRIL 27TH, 2002
DOWNSTAIRS
michael scott
(eilboard magazine kc)
upstairs
DJ ROD
9PM - 2AM
5401 JOHNSON DRIVE
MISSION, KS 66205
913.403.8571
INDU4 Brewersite
spaceTRIBE
Roommate not so helpful around the house?
If you need it,you can find it Check out The University Daily Kansan classifieds. We're also online at kansan.com.
Roommate Wanted. Someone respond sible.Affordable rent.Call 555-1212.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Not getting hit on enough? Advertise your website on Kansan.com
kansan.com The author magazine of the university of kansas
Officials blame phosphorus for Wichita water problems
The Associated Press
WICHITA—The funny taste and bad odor that plague Wichita's drinking water in spring and summer is caused by a chemical found in fertilizer, federal officials said.
The U.S. Geological Survey on Tuesday presented the findings of a $1.9 million six-year study to pinpoint the conditions that lead to runaway growth of algae in Cheney Reservoir, resulting in funny tasting and smelling water.
wnen the algae dies off, it gives off a chemical that makes the drinking water smell like the inside of a fish tank.
The culprit is phosphorus, a form of fertilizer that occurs naturally in rocks and is found in manure and farm fertilizer.
About 65 percent of the phosphorus getting into Cheney Reservoir, which provides about 60 percent of Wichita's drinking
water, comes from agriculture, said Mike Pope of the Geological Survey.
Eliminating that phosphorus would eliminate the problems, he said.
Wichita became concerned about the quality of water in Cheney Reservoir during the summer of 1990. Throughout that summer, and again during the summer of 1991, the city received 300 to 500 calls a day from residents complaining about the way the water smelled and tasted, said Jerry Blain, project manager for the Wichita Water Department.
The city has been working with area farmers since the early 1990s to reduce the amount of fertilizer that gets into the reservoir. To date, the city has completed about 2,000 projects to reduce runoff.
Using information in the study, the city plans to make some changes, Blain said.
It will offer to relocate some dairy farms away from the streams that feed the reservoirs. It also plans to build buffer strips, grassy areas that catch fertilizer that would otherwise wash off of fields.
The study, funded by the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Reclamation, analyzed more than 100 pollutants.
Excessive phosphorus was the only problem the study identified.
"We can focus on one piece, rather than a whole spectrum of things that we have to get out of the water," Blain said.
The study also found traces of pesticides in 99 percent of the samples taken from the reservoir, but the levels are low enough not to pose a health threat. Pope said.
The study also found that bacterial levels in the reservoir are low and the water is consistently clean enough for swimming and boating.
Attacks prompt food safety law
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — New food safety measures approved in response to last year's terror attacks were signed into law yesterday by Gov. Bill Graves.
Any such action would be a felony if it were committed with an intent to damage the items, cause economic or social unrest or injure or kill people.
As of May 2, it will be at least a misdemeanor in Kansas to knowingly contaminate any raw agricultural commodity, processed food or animal feed or expose those items to an infectious disease.
Last year, legislators
responded to Europe's outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease with a new law making it a crime to expose livestock and poultry to infectious disease.
The possibility that terrorists might try to infect plants and animals or disrupt the food supply became an issue with the Sept. 11 attacks. Some legislators and state officials said agriculture represented the biggest potential terrorist target in Kansas.
"After September, we started questioning a lot of things we took for granted before," said Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Derek Schmidt, R-Independence. "It had just never been a major concern that someone might poison or infect our food supply."
The new law also will allow the governor to declare a state of emergency if a food-safety disaster has occurred or appears imminent. Such a declaration would allow him to order the quarantine of plants, animal feed and processed food.
Last year's law gave the governor the same authority for an outbreak of disease among livestock and poultry.
"This legislation provides an extra, added measure of security both for the citizens in terms of their food supply and our agricultural industry," said Graves' spokesman, Don Brown.
Its that time of year when everything is growing... including us. Keep an eye on whats up and coming.
See it all for yourself on our website at www.ku.edu/~recserv/
864-3546 208 Robinson.
-
17