(December 14, 2015, 10:10 AM EST) -- MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Kansas chief engineer on Dec. 2 concluded that groundwater pumping by junior water rights holders “regularly and significantly” impairs the ability of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to maintain water levels in the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge (Initial Report of the Chief Engineer Concerning a Claim of Water Right Impairment, Water Right File No. 7,571, Kan. Div. Water Resources).

In April 2013, Fish and Wildlife asked the chief engineer of the Division of Water Resources to investigate the impairment of Water...