On Sept. 26, Kansas U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall met virtually with Stafford County community leaders to provide an update on Quivira National Wildlife Refuge and the status of the Water Right Impairment. Meeting attendees included local government officials, staff from Big Bend Groundwater Management District 5, commodity group representatives and others. 

Since coming to office in 2017, the senator has worked to find a solution to the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s impairment complaint in its administration of the Quivira Refuge, on behalf of Stafford County leaders and landowners. the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and GMD5 have been operating under a memorandum of agreement, signed in 2020, to find a science-based, commonsense solution that would provide stability for those reliant on water from the Rattlesnake Creek.

“As a Stafford County landowner and outdoorsman, I understand the need to preserve a unique asset like Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, while also protecting the livelihoods of the farmers and ranchers in Stafford and neighboring counties.”

Prior to the virtual meeting, Marshall sent a letter along with fellow Sen. Jerry Moran and Congressmen Tracey Mann and Ron Estes to Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, encouraging her administration to continue working in good faith to encourage USFWS to advocate for the MOA.

Marshall is scheduled to meet with the U.S. Department of Interior assistant secretary and the USFWS director about the ongoing issue later this month, to urge them again to carry out the proposed conservation plan drafted by GMD5 stakeholders.