Topeka ? Advocates for the Kansas River said Monday the Kaw would be dirtier and harder to access for recreational purposes under bills that gained momentum Monday in the Legislature.

Secretary of Wildlife and Parks Mike Hayden testified against both bills, while lobbyists for agricultural interests pushed for their passage.

One bill would require the state parks agency to get permission from adjacent property owners before building river access projects on the Kansas, Missouri or Arkansas rivers.

Hayden told members of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources budget subcommittee that the measure would tie up attempts to put in canoe and boat ramps on the river.

“You are denying the people of Kansas access to their own river,” he said.

Mike Calwell, who is access development coordinator for Friends of the Kaw, Kansas Riverkeeper Dave Murphy and other environmentalists testified against the bill. The Kansas Water Office also opposed the measure.

“This bill would allow minority rule and abandon any opportunity for fair democratic process,” Calwell said. “It could allow one person to override the wishes of an entire community and prevent the development of much-needed canoeing ramps.”

The 170-mile-long river has only a handful of public access points.

But several subcommittee members said adjacent landowners should be given veto rights on river access projects because they would have to put up with litter problems and trespassers. Agriculture Secretary Adrian Polansky and the Kansas Farm Bureau testified in favor of the bill, saying it was a property-rights issue.

The Legislature is considering a proposal that could make it more difficult to access the Kansas River for recreational purposes. The Kansas University women's rowing team is one of the many users of the Kaw near Lawrence.

Hayden, however, said the measure would hurt property rights because if a person wanted to work with the state to put in a boat ramp, a neighbor could kill the deal. He said if lawmakers approved the bill he would ask Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to veto it.

The committee made some minor changes to the legislation and sent it to the full House budget committee.

Earlier in the day, a Senate committee started considering a bill that Hayden testified against in part because it would reduce the amount of time during the year that the Kansas River is to meet strict environmental standards. Currently, the Kaw must meet antipollution standards for recreational use, such as swimming and fishing, from April 1 through Oct. 31.

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The bill was brought up by agricultural interests, who said they had gotten word from the Environmental Protection Agency that federal officials have concerns about some parts of a 2001 state law — Senate Bill 204 — that would remove hundreds of Kansas stream segments from the antipollution standards.

The ag groups said the EPA had indicated it would approve shortening the Kaw’s antipollution dates from May 1 to Sept. 30.

EPA officials in Kansas City, Kan., said they were reviewing the regulations outlined by Senate Bill 204.