Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Ron Estes voted in favor of S. 4367, the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act, which passed the House 399-18. Included in this bill is a provision to amend two water supply storage contracts between the State of Kansas and the United States that will save Kansas more than $41 million in interest savings.
 
"The need for water in Kansas is critical and changing the contracts for future use water storage at Perry and Milford Lakes to use simple interest instead of compound interest will save the state millions of dollars," said Rep. Estes. "This is a fiscally responsible move that will benefit the communities that rely on the water in these reservoirs and ensure sufficient resources are available to meet the state’s water needs."
 
Background
In the 2022 Water Resources Development Act, the City of El Dorado requested to modify its future-use contract with the Army Corps at El Dorado Lake. Retroactively changing the contract to use simple interest calculations rather than compound interest calculations significantly reduced the interest payment that will be due when their contract ends. The changes to the Perry and Milford Lakes contracts will follow this same model to lower interest liability by switching to simple interest rather than the compound interest. The Water Office calculates that making this switch would save the State more than $41 million in interest between the two contracts.