Session of 2026

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT BRIEF

SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 2114

As Agreed to March 25, 2026

Brief*

Sub. for HB 2114 would amend law regarding dams and water obstructions, safety inspections, fees, and civil penalties.

Definitions

The bill would define “modification” as any action the Chief Engineer, Division of Water Resources (DWR), Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA), determines would change the physical dimensions or hydraulic characteristics of any dam, stream obstruction, or channel change that is under the jurisdiction of the Chief Engineer.

The bill would state that any structure that is defined as a “dam” in continuing law would be considered a water obstruction and not as a dam if the primary purpose of the structure is to serve as:

●  Dry detention road fill for state, county, or municipal government;

●  A low head dam that has a maximum height below the lowest stream bank; or

●  A wastewater storage structure for a confined feeding facility that has been approved by the Secretary of Health and Environment pursuant to continuing law regarding prevention of water pollution. [Note: This provision is current law, but is being moved to a different part of Section 1.]

The bill would require any structure that meets the requirements of a hazard class A dam to be considered a water obstruction and not a dam if the structure meets the following additional criteria:

●  The structure impounds water under a vested right, water right, or permit to appropriate water for irrigation, stockwater, or sediment control use pursuant to the Kansas Water Appropriation Act or is required to obtain a permit to appropriate water for irrigation, stockwater, or sediment control use in order to lawfully impound water; and

●  The structure has a height of less than 30 feet and a storage volume at the top of the emergency spillway elevation of less than 125 acre-feet.

Application Fees and Post-construction Permit Fees

The bill would increase the application fee for a permit to construct, modify, or add to a dam from $200 to:

●  $250 for a hazard class A dam that does not qualify for an exemption provided in continuing law;

●  $500 for a hazard class B dam; and

●  $1,000 for a hazard class C dam.

The bill would also create a post-construction permit fee based on the size of the watershed area in the following amounts:

●  Less than 5 square miles – $200;

●  Between 5 and 50 square miles – $400; and

●  More than 50 square miles – $800.

[Note: According to the KDA’s website, each dam in Kansas is assigned one of three hazard classifications:

●  Class A – low hazard;

●  Class B – significant hazard; and

●  Class C – high hazard.

Hazard classification reflects the impact on downstream property and individuals in the event the dam should fail, but hazard classification does not reflect the physical condition of the dam. Low hazard dams are relatively unlikely to cause serious property damage or loss of life in the event of a failure, while high hazard dams are likely to cause loss of life or serious property damage.]

Inundation Map

Requirements of the Chief Engineer

The bill would require the Chief Engineer to permanently display an inundation map (map) for each permitted dam on KDA’s website and provide copies of the maps to the zoning authority or county clerk, if a zoning authority does not exist, for each county where any land included on a map is located.

If current maps have not been provided to the Chief Engineer, the bill would require the Chief Engineer, if funding is available, to prepare or update maps for all permitted dams and display the maps on KDA’s website and provide copies to the zoning authority or county clerk.

Landowner Notice

The bill would require, on and after July 1, 2026, a landowner to file a notice of inundation zone (notice) with the county register of deeds, if the landowner owns any land located in the inundation zone of a dam that is under the jurisdiction of the Chief Engineer and sells, subdivides, or otherwise transfers any land within the inundation zone that is separate from the dam.

The bill would require the notice to contain the following:

On (date of sale, division, or transfer) this property is located in the inundation zone of a dam or structure located (insert legal description).

The bill would state a landowner who fails to file a notice would be responsible for paying the costs of inspections that exceed the inspection costs that would have been required by the dam’s previous lower hazard classification if continuing law regarding inspection of dams by the Chief Engineer applies to the dam.

Dam Inspections

Inspector Requirements

The bill would add “licensed professional engineer approved by the Chief Engineer” (approved engineer) and “intern engineer,” as defined in continuing law and under the supervision of an approved engineer, to the list of persons that would have the power and duty to inspect any dam or other water obstruction.

Inspections, Fees, and Classification Scheme

The bill would clarify the purpose of rules and regulations adopted by the Chief Engineer regarding the class and size of a dam would be for assessing inspection fees as provided for in this section of the bill.

The bill would require the dam owner to pay inspection fees to the KDA for each inspection, other than an inspection that a dam owner elects to have conducted at the dam owner’s own expense, and change the amount of fees for specific sizes of dams:

The bill would require safety inspections to occur at the following times for the following class of dams:

●  For class A dams that do not qualify for exemptions in continuing law―every 10 years;

●  For class B dams―every five years; and

●  For class C dams―every three years.

The bill would allow a watershed district to enter into an agreement with the Chief Engineer that would provide for the district to conduct limited safety inspections in lieu of the safety inspections required for dam hazard classes A, B, and C.

The bill would reorganize this section of the law regarding safety inspections and require safety inspections required by this act to be conducted by the Chief Engineer, or an authorized representative of the Chief Engineer who is an approved engineer or intern engineer.

A dam owner could elect to have any required safety inspection performed at the owner’s own expense, provided the inspection is performed by an engineer authorized to perform inspections in accordance with this act.

The bill would not require a safety inspection to be conducted for any dam for which the owner has submitted an inundation map to the Chief Engineer that demonstrates the failure of the dam would only inundate real property or fixtures to real property owned by the owner.

The bill would require that if the Chief Engineer reclassifies a dam to a higher hazard classification and this has not occurred due to any actions of the owner, the dam would be subject to the inspection requirements for the higher hazard classification, but the owner would not be charged for inspections that exceed those that would have been required by the previous lower hazard classification.

The bill would authorize any engineer authorized to perform inspections in accordance with this act to have the right to access private property conditioned on seven days’ prior notice of the inspection being provided to the owner, except for an instance when the Chief Engineer determines that emergency action, as defined in continuing law, is or may be necessary.

The bill would make other clarifying amendments regarding the addition of an approved engineer or intern engineer, the failure to provide a complete and timely report to the KDA, and who is responsible for paying for a safety inspection.

Penalties and Moneys to be Deposited

Penalties and Violations

The bill would add “intentionally” as a condition for violation of any provision of this act.

The bill would set penalties for violation of laws and rules and regulations regarding dams. A person could be subject to a civil penalty of no less than $100 and no more than $1,000 per violation. In the case of continuing violations, each notice provided by the Chief Engineer and the required corrective action would be considered a separate violation if the corrective action identified in the notice has not commenced within seven days of receiving the notice. The bill would allow the civil penalty to be assessed in addition to any other penalty provided by law.

The bill would prohibit any civil penalty to be imposed without written order of the Chief Engineer.

The bill would allow any person aggrieved by an order of the Chief Engineer regarding this section of the law to appeal to a district court of competent jurisdiction in the manner provided by the Kansas Judicial Review Act.

Moneys to be Deposited

The bill would require all moneys collected by the Chief Engineer, except for penalties, to be deposited in the State Treasury and be credited to the Water Structures Fund. All moneys collected for penalties would be deposited in the State General Fund.

Technical and Conforming Amendments

The bill would make technical and conforming amendments to continuing law.

Conference Committee Action

The Conference Committee agreed to the contents of Sub. for HB 2114, as passed by the Senate, with the following changes:

●  Increase the application fee for a permit to construct, modify, or add to a dam from $200 to:

○  $250 for a class A dam;

○  $500 for a class B dam; and

○  $1,000 for a class C dam;

●  Add post-construction permit fees as in the bill as introduced with amended amounts of:

○  Less than 5 square miles – $200;

○  Between 5 and 50 square miles – $400; and

○  More than 50 square miles – $800; and

●  Decrease dam inspection fees to the following amounts:

○  Class 1 – from $1,500 to $1,000;

○  Class 2 – from $1,500 to $1,000;

○  Class 3 – from $2,500 to $2,000; and

○  Class 4 – from $4,000 to $3,000.

Background

The bill was introduced by the House Committee on Water at the request of the Chief Engineer on behalf of KDA.

House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources

In the House Committee hearing on February 14, 2025, proponent testimony was provided by the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, who stated the national inventory of dams in November 2024 counted 6,490 dams in the state—2,531 of these dams are state-regulated. Of the 2,531, 328 are high hazard potential dams and 176 significant hazard potential dams. The changes requested in the bill reflect the recommendations of an independent dam safety program evaluation, the consultants for which were funded by the 2022 Legislature.

Written-only proponent testimony was provided by the Executive Director of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials.

Neutral testimony was provided by a representative of the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers, who requested amendments to the bill to clarify the role of a licensed professional engineer in the inspection process.

Written-only neutral testimony was provided by representatives of Kansas Farm Bureau and League of Kansas Municipalities.

Opponent testimony was provided by a representative of the Kansas Livestock Association (KLA), who detailed KLA’s concerns with the bill and provided recommended amendments that could remove the KLA’s opposition. The concerns generally included required inspections, reclassification of a dam’s hazard class, DWR entering private property without prior notice, lack of publicly accessible data, civil fines and criminal liability, and using fines to fund the program.

No other testimony was provided.

On February 11, 2026, the House Committee received written-only proponent testimony from the Executive Director of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials that reiterated the organization’s support of the bill.

On February 12, 2026, the House Committee amended the bill to:

●  Define “modification”;

●  Require the Chief Engineer to display inundation maps for each permitted map on the KDA’s website and provide the maps to the local zoning authority or county clerk, and if funding is available, require the Chief Engineer to prepare or update maps, display them on the KDA’s website, and provide the maps to the local zoning authority or county clerk;

●  Add intern engineer to the list of persons who would have the power and duty to inspect any dam or other water obstruction;

●  Remove provisions related to safety inspections and costs of safety inspections;

●  Require dam owners to pay inspection fees to the KDA for each inspection other than an inspection that a dam owner elects to have conducted at the dam owner’s own expense;

●  Reorganize language regarding safety inspections conducted by a licensed professional engineer, approved engineer, or intern engineer;

●  Require the Chief Engineer, approved engineer, or intern engineer to conduct safety inspections, but allow an owner to elect to have the required safety inspection done at the owner’s expense, provided the inspection is performed by an engineer authorized to perform inspections in accordance with this act;

●  Not require safety inspections of dams for which the owner has submitted an inundation map to the Chief Engineer that demonstrates failure of the dam would only inundate real property or fixtures to real property owned by the owner;

●  Making certain requirements for inspections should a dam be reclassified to a higher hazard classification;

●  Add “or supervised” to report making, to reflect the addition of “intern engineer”;

●  Clarify who is responsible for payments of certain safety inspections;

●  Clarify who is authorized to have the right of access to private property and allow for emergency right of access with seven days prior notice to the owner;

●  Add “intentionally” as a condition for violation of any provision of this act;

●  Add a seven-day grace period for a corrective action to be commenced before being considered a separate violation;

●  Require all moneys collected by the Chief Engineer, except for civil penalties, to be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Water Structures Fund

●  Require all moneys collected by the Chief Engineer for civil penalties to be deposited in the State General Fund; and

●  Make technical and conforming amendments.

[Note: The Conference Committee retained these amendments.]

The House Committee recommended a substitute bill be passed incorporating the amendments.

Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources

In the Senate Committee hearing on March 13, 2026, proponent testimony was provided by the Chief Engineer and a representative of MWI, LLC. The proponents reviewed the amendments passed by the House and provided details about which structures would be considered water obstructions versus dams under the bill.

Written-only proponent testimony was provided by a representative of the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers.

Neutral testimony was provided by a representative of the KLA, who explained the amendments adopted by the House that led to the organization moving from opponent to neutral on the bill.

Written-only neutral testimony was provided by representatives of the Butler County Conservation District, Kansas Farm Bureau, and State Association of Kansas Watersheds.

Written-only opponent testimony was provided by a representative of the Wet Walnut Creek Watershed Joint District No. 58.

On March 17, 2026, the Senate Committee amended the bill to:

●  Add a requirement for landowners of land in an inundation zone of a dam to file notice with the county register of deeds if the landowner sells, subdivides, or transfers any of the land in the inundation zone [Note: The Conference Committee retained this amendment.];

●  Specify what information the notice filed with the county register of deeds should include [Note: The Conference Committee retained this amendment.];

●  Impose inspection costs should the landowner fail to file the notice with the register of deeds [Note: The Conference Committee retained this amendment.];

●  Remove all new application fees [Note: The Conference Committee did not retain this amendment.];

●  Increase the existing fee to construct, modify, or add to a dam from $200 to $500 [Note: The Conference Committee modified and retained this amendment.];

●  Establish requirements for a hazard class A dam to be considered a water obstruction and not a dam [Note: The Conference Committee retained this amendment.];

●  Add wastewater storage structures for a confined feeding facility that has been approved by the Secretary of Health and Environment to a list of structures to be considered a water obstruction and not a dam [Note: The Conference Committee retained this amendment.]; and

●  Allow a watershed district to enter into an agreement with the Chief Engineer that provides for the district to conduct limited safety inspections in lieu of those required for dam classes C, B, and A. [Note: The Conference Committee retained this amendment.]

Senate Committee of the Whole

On March 19, 2026, the Senate Committee of the Whole amended the bill to remove post-construction permit fees in the following amounts:

●  Less than 5 square miles–$200;

●  Between 5 and 50 square miles–$400;

●  More than 50 square miles–$1,000.

[Note: The Conference Committee did not retain this amendment.]

Fiscal Information

A fiscal note on the substitute bill was not available.

Kansas Department of Agriculture; Division of Water Resources; Chief Engineer; water; dams; levees; water obstructions; fees

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