Governor Laura Kelly announced the Kansas Department of Agriculture is receiving nearly $25 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support water conservation and groundwater management in the High Plains Aquifer. The funding comes through USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) as part of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). The RCPP aims to reduce water use by collaborating with farmers and ranchers to implement a combination of NRCS practices including irrigation water management, cover crops, reduced tillage, and nutrient management. The High Plains Aquifer is the largest groundwater source in Kansas and plays an important economic role as farmers rely on it for irrigation. Lying underneath western and south-central Kansas, it consists of several hydraulically connected aquifers.