MANHATTAN — The strategies for securing Kansas' future water supply emerging at a conference Tuesday included injecting urgency into expansion of conservation alliances, broadening investment in moisture-saving agricultural innovations and securing state resources to buy reservoir water rights.

Another objective raised at the Governor's Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas: Persuasively conveying to consumers that procrastination was too great a risk for urban and rural communities.

"In my view, second only to our children, I'd argue water is this state's most valuable resource," said Republican Lt. Gov. Tracey Mann.

Mann's replacement, Democratic Lt. Gov.-elect Lynn Rogers, said the state must build upon work started by former Gov. Sam Brownback to bring about dredging of sediment choking John Redmond Reservoir and to develop voluntary water management agreements among farmers and ranchers to extend the life of the Ogallala Aquifer.

"That's one of the highlights of the Brownback administration," said Rogers, a Wichita state senator. "We're going to be able to step into a group of local leaders involved in agriculture and manufacturing and communities."

Rep. Doug Blex, R-Independence, said he would support earmarking statewide sales tax revenue to create a stable source of financing for Kansas water programs. The change is warranted because expenditures for initiatives tied to the water supply have been an easy target when budgets get tight, he said.

Blex said about $25 million might be necessary for the state to secure access to water stored in reservoirs built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"I'm a strong conservative," he said, "but I do support one-tenth of 1 percent of sales tax for water. It could be part of the 6.5 percent we have or an increase on that. We really want to add it as a priority."

Surface water consumers of eastern Kansas and underground aquifer water consumers of western Kansas need to better appreciate each other's needs in terms of residential, commercial and agriculture usage, said Rep. Ken Rahjes, R-Agra.

He said the state should strive to expand implementation in western Kansas of technology capable of reducing the flow of irrigation water on fields while increasing yields. In eastern Kansas, he said, greater investment in stream-bank management projects designed to slow chemical runoff and erosion into lakes and reservoirs ought to be pursued.

Josh Svaty, a Democrat and former secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, said attendance by more than 500 people at the governor's water conference demonstrated the level of interest in development of water policy.

"The problem with water has been it's a resource that's underground where people can't see it. People are talking about it now," Svaty said.

Brownback, who stepped down in early 2018 to work in the administration of President Donald Trump, started the water conference seven years ago. His objective was to develop a 50-year water plan, with emphasis on the Ogallala Aquifer.