In this 2020 oral history interview, former State Representative Carl Holmes discusses his observations of state water policy formulation in the 1970's through 2012. Holmes began his involvement in water policy as a farmer and active member of his community in southwest Kansas. In many respects, his experiences reflect the water-energy nexus. Holmes describes how he had observed cities and irrigators mining water in southwest Kansas. He recalls developing a comprehensive understanding of water issues by interviewing the managers of the state’s water resources.

Earl Watkins, a Kansas native, retired as president and CEO of the Sunflower Electric Power Corporation (Sunflower) in 2012 having served in that role since 2004. Prior to becoming president and CEO, Watkins served as Sunflower’s general counsel. Before he began his career at Sunflower, Watkins was in the private practiced of law, co-founding the firm of Watkins Calcera, Chtd. in Great Bend, KS. Watkins attended the University of Kansas obtaining his undergraduate and law degrees there.

From the early 1980s until 2007, Jim Haines was in executive management of Kansas Gas & Electric, Western Resources, and Westar Energy with a break when he was an executive at El Paso Electric Company in Texas. Prior to his career in Kansas, Jim was involved in utility regulation with the Missouri Public Service Commission in the mid- to late 1970s. Jim was born and raised in Jackson, Michigan where he began his post-secondary education at the Jackson Community College. He earned degrees from the University of Missouri Columbia in English Literature and Law.

Joe Harkins served Kansas for over 40 years in a variety of roles. He was Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (1979-1982), and Director of the Kansas Water Office (1982 to 1991 and 2004-2004). Harkins was appointed in 1991 as Director of the University of Kansas Public Management Center in Topeka. In 2007he was appointed to the Kansas Corporation Commission. Harkins graduated from Ottawa High School, 1956; and the University of Kansas (BA) in 1960, and (MPA) 1963.

Joyce Wolf was active in environmental organizations in Minnesota before moving to Kansas in 1982. In 1985, she helped form the Kansas Clean Air Coalition, and in 1988, began representing the Kansas Audubon Council in the Statehouse. Among the issues before the Kansas Legislature during Wolf's as a lobbyist was funding of the State Water Plan and obtaining sufficient water for the Cheyenne Bottoms wetland area. Wolf and the Audubon Society were members of a coalition of organizations with similar environmental goals.

Ken Grotewiel was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives and served from 1983 until 1994, representing District 92 in Wichita. While in the Legislature, he assumed leadership roles in development of water policy and related environmental and utilities issues. Grotewiel chaired the House Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for one term, 1991-1992, when Democrats held the majority in the House. After his service in the Legislature, Grotewiel served as Assistant Director of the Kansas Water Office.

Mike Hayden has had a long career in public service at the state and national levels. In addition to serving as Governor of Kansas (1987-1991), Hayden served in the US Army and the Kansas House of Representatives where he served two terms as Speaker. He was also Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Interior during the G. H. W. Bush administration and served nine years as Secretary of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks for Governors Graves, Sebelius, and Parkinson.

Nancy Jackson has had an impressive career in the non-profit sector. Nancy founded and directed the Climate + Energy Project (CEP) from 2007 to 2010. CEP received the Governor’s Commendation for achievement in renewable energy and efficiency in 2009 and was featured on the front page of the New York Times and in Lawrence Berkley Lab and Discovery documentaries in 2010. Nancy earned a bachelor's degree in Humanities and an M.A. in Environmental History from the University of Kansas.

A native Kansan, Tracy Streeter grew up on a diversified family farm in Brown County, Kansas and graduated from Horton High School. He earned undergraduate degrees from Highland Community College and Missouri Western State University and a graduate degree from the University of Kansas. Streeter served eight years on the Valley Falls Board of Education and is a private pilot.

Wes Jackson was born in 1936 on a farm near Topeka, Kansas. After attending Kansas Wesleyan (B.A Biology, 1958), he studied botany (M.A. University of Kansas, 1960) and genetics (Ph.D. North Carolina State University, 1967). He was a professor of biology at Kansas Wesleyan and later established the Environmental Studies department at California State University, Sacramento, where he became a tenured full professor. He resigned that position in 1976 and returned to Kansas to found The Land Institute. Dr.