If Kansas hopes to protect and preserve its waters, it’s going to have to spend a lot more money on the effort, former Gov. Mike Hayden said Tuesday.

“If we don’t, our future is diminished,” he said, addressing more than 200 water officials for the 19th Annual Water and the Future of Kansas Conference at the Lawrence Holidome.

As governor, Hayden played a key role in establishing the Kansas Water Plan Fund, which collects about $17.5 million annually  $6 million from the State General Fund, $3.5 million from fees on city water bills, $3 million from fees on fertilizer sales, $2 million in state gaming revenue and more than $3 million in fees assessed on industrial water users, pesticide sales and sand companies.

Since the fund’s inception, increases have been minimal.

“There’s been a significant erosion in the fund’s buying power,” said Hayden, who lives in Lawrence.

Because of inflation, he said, the fund has lost about 60 percent of its buying power.

Hayden proposed a “from the bottom up” analysis of the fund to see whether existing contributions should be increased, new contributors added or a combination of the two.

“We’re going to have to do it,” he said.

Al LeDoux, director of the Kansas Water Office, welcomed Hayden’s comments.

“Mike’s right on point,” he said.

A former speaker of the Kansas House, Hayden was governor from 1987 to 1991. An avid outdoorsman, he’s currently acting secretary at Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.