WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - Kansas Senator Roger Marshall was in Wichita Monday afternoon for a roundtable discussion about how to save water in the state. This is as the city of Wichita is in stage two of its drought response plan.

There were officials with the cities of Wichita, Derby, and Goddard present as well as representatives with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Weather Service, Cheney Watershed, the United States Geological Survey, and more. Organizations put together presentations to show what the water levels at Cheney Reservoir are and why this is happening.

Senator Marshall says these conversations are incredibly important to have.

"Over 20 years ago I felt that water and the lack of people for the jobs we have were the biggest challenges Kansas would faces for decades," he said.

He says he wasn't expecting such a huge drought to hit the city of Wichita and it's surrounding areas but that's why you need to have a water conservation plan. He says it's good Wichita had a plan beforehand and is following it and he hopes other cities will follow in its footsteps to make their own.

"Probably the toughest situation in the state right now as far as the water drought goes is right here in Sedgwick County," said Marshall.

In short, the reason the water levels are so low is because of a lack of rain. Even with normal precipitation levels experts say it will take years for Cheney to return to normal.

"This is the lowest that we've been in eleven years," said Gary Janzen, Wichita's director of public works and utilities.

Senator Marshall says you need to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. He says the drought isn't going to end tomorrow and cities need to have plans in place for what they will do if it gets to a certain point ahead of time.

He wants people to add more water conservation practices to their day to day lives and wants to see more cities use recycled water.

"One of my goals is to make sure that not one drop of water leaves Kansas that isn't recycled and that's becoming a reality," said Marshall.

Wichita says it is already using recycled water in several areas and it is continuing to look for more ways to save water.

"We're doing things differently with landscaping, with grass management, with watering our golf courses," said Janzen.

Janzen says he hopes this will educate people to save water in their day to day lives. He says there is no reason to water your lawn every single day of the week even when the drought is over.

Everyone at the roundtable agrees it's important to save water at all times to be proactive.