Topeka ? Sand and gravel companies backed by powerful business groups are seeking regulatory changes that state water officials and environmentalists say would endanger Kansas water supplies.

“This bill would essentially exempt sand and gravel operations from regulation,” said David Pope, chief engineer of the Division of Water Resources in the Kansas Agriculture Department.

But sand and gravel companies say current regulations are driving up the price of sand and threatening the security of an industry that is crucial to the Kansas economy.

“We are unable to achieve suitable and stable financing from our bankers and other investors who are unwilling to extend capital to a business that has no assurance that they will be allowed to continue past one to five years,” said Victor Klotz, owner of Klotz Sand & Asphalt Co. Inc., located in Holcomb.

The dispute is over House Bill 2919, which may be voted on Tuesday in the House Environment Committee.

The measure would exempt sand and gravel pit operators from obtaining a water permit to divert surface or groundwater that is exposed to evaporation during mining operations, officials said.

That worries environmentalists and water officials, who say evaporation from gravel pits constitutes a significant loss of water and should be subject to permit regulations in order to properly manage aquifers, such as the Equus Beds, which provide water to the city of Wichita.

Dan Ward, executive director of the Kansas Wildlife Federation, said the proposed change “takes the state in exactly the opposite direction from the way we need to go.

“It adds to the stress of groundwater use, and doesn’t give the Division of Water Resources the tools it needs to monitor or correct these usages,” he said.

But Klotz and other sand and gravel operators say the current regulations put them in a catch-22. They are told to acquire water rights to operate a pit, but increasingly no new water rights are available for operation. Sand must be mined close to where it is formed, the operators say.

The aggregate industry produces more than 15 million tons of sand annually for construction usage, according to the Kansas Aggregate Producers Assn. The proposed changes would affect sand and gravel operations in central and western Kansas where evaporation is greater and many of the water rights are fully appropriated.

The Kansas Chamber, Kansas Aggregates Producers Assn., Kansas Building Industry Assn. and the Wichita Area Builders Assn. testified in support of the bill.

In addition to the Agriculture Department and Wildlife Federation, officials from the Sierra Club, Equus Beds Groundwater Management District No. 2, Northwest Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 4, and the city of Wichita oppose the legislation.