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‘Seeing some positives’ with drought
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Obama plan has $714M for NBAF lab By John Milburn
Associated Press
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
LIZ RAYNOLDS, who works in the admissions office at Kansas University, takes cover under her umbrella Wednesday as she makes her way to the Kansas Union.
Weather picture less extreme By Ian Cummings
“
It is easing. With drought, you typically The idea that this week’s are slow going in and rains signal some relief from the drought might not slow getting out.” icummings@ljworld.com
be purely wishful thinking. Even if Lawrence gets no more showers after Wednesday, as the local forecast suggests, and finishes the week with not much more than an inch of rain, the region is trending wetter, according to climatologists at the National Drought Mitigation Center
— Brian Fuchs, climatologist in Lincoln, Neb. In the short term, Lawrence collected a little more than a half-inch of rain on Sunday, followed by negligible amounts on Monday and Tuesday, and
about a half-inch Wednesday. But that is likely to be the last of it this week, said Matt Wolpers, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Topeka. There is a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms on Sunday and Monday. Meanwhile, temperatures are forecast to drop to lows of 29 and 30 degrees today and Friday night before warming up to the 60s and 70s on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. But even paltry rain this
week might be a harbinger of wetter times to come, said Brian Fuchs, a Drought Mitigation Center climatologist. That should be good news for everyone, after nearly the entire state was declared a federal disaster area in January because of the ongoing drought. Please see DROUGHT, page 2A
KU researchers
hosting conference on water use. Page 4A
TOPEKA — The budget proposal President Barack Obama sent to Congress on Wednesday includes $714 million to build a new federal biosecurity lab in Kansas, the largest proposed federal expenditure for the project to date. Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas said the recommendation signals the administration’s support for building the $1.15 billion lab, which will study large animal diseases and develop measures to protect the nation’s food supply. “After almost a decade of Roberts work by a whole bunch of folks, this is certainly good news,” Roberts said. “We’re not there yet, but it’s a milestone.” The Department of Homeland Security would build the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility at Kansas State University in Manhattan to replace a facility at Plum Island, N.Y. Obama’s recommendation comes amid federal budget debates about reducing the Please see NBAF, page 2A
LHS grad aces Water taste, odor problems arrive early this year judicial hearing “ By Chad Lawhorn
clawhorn@ljworld.com
J-W Wire Reports
There are early signs that Lawrence officials once again will spend the summer fighting an organic battle to prevent the city’s drinking water from having taste and odor issues. But this year, water plant operators might do their fighting on a different front. Water plant operators are alerting city officials that elevated levels of organic materials are showing up at the city’s Kaw Water Treatment Plant. Last year, city officials experienced taste and odor issues primarily at the city’s
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s nominee to a federal appeals court faced no outright opposition from Republican senators during a Senate hearing on Wednesday. Sen. Orrin Hatch, RUtah, pledged his endorsement to Sri Srinivasan, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also was supportive. The Obama administration hopes that the bipartisan credentials of Srinivasan, 46, who was born in India and raised in LawSrinivasan rence, will help him win confirmation to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Srinivasan served as assistant to the solicitor general in the George W. Bush adminisChilly tration and clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan. Last week, a dozen lawyers who represented the federal government before the Supreme Court under both parties urged that he be confirmed. A committee vote could come as earLow: 29 ly as next month before the nomination High: 47 Today’s forecast, page 10A goes to the full Senate.
If this drought continues, we probably would anticipate a pretty active year on the taste and odor front again.” — Dave Wagner, the city’s director of utilities.
Clinton Lake Water Treatment Plant. “If this drought continues, we probably would anticipate a pretty active year on the taste and odor front again,” said Dave Wagner, the city’s director of utilities. Activity levels already are
pretty high, Wagner said. The city’s water treatment plant along the Kansas River is picking up increased amounts of geosmin in the raw water supply out of the river. Geosmin is a byproduct of dead algae. It isn’t harmful to human health, but at high enough levels it can create a musty taste and odor in treated water. So far, Wagner said the city’s treatment process has been successful in reducing the geosmin levels to the point that ordinary consumers aren’t noticing any taste or odor issues. But that treatment has come at a cost. The city currently is using two to three times the amount of car-
bon in its treatment process than is normal for this time of the year. The drought is a likely reason the Kansas River is experiencing higher geosmin levels than normal, where in the past, reservoirs have experienced more of the issues. Wagner said nearly all of the water in the Kansas River is being supplied by upstream reservoirs instead of through runoff after rains. “We are talking about very, very low river flows,” Wagner said. “They are lower than anything I can remember.” Wagner estimated that Please see WATER, page 7A
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