The Kansas (Kaw) River stretches 171 miles from its origin in Junction City to its confluence with the Missouri River and is the primary source of drinking water for many communities in northeast Kansas. This recreational treasure was a well kept secret among a few knowing paddlers and anglers, but is fast becoming a valued recreational resource for thousands of visitors each year.
Pollution from Runoff
Land use in the Kansas River Watershed
The most noticeable features of the Kansas River-Lower Republican Watershed are the grasslands in the Flint Hills, cropland in the Kansas River floodplain and urbanized areas of Junction City, Manhattan, Topeka, Lawrence and Kansas City.
Most of the land in the watershed is vegetated, with almost half covered by grassland (46%) and over a third by cropland (35%). With 18,740 farms in the 25 counties either wholly or partially within the basin, farms cover a total of about 8.5 million acres. This means that agricultural lands are a major component of the watershed and reducing agricultural runoff is important to improving the health of the Kaw River.
The river corridor (the area extending out to 100 feet of the river on either side) is mostly vegetated, with an extensive riparian forest in many areas. Vegetated buffer zones can reduce the amount of runoff that reaches the river. The Kansas River Inventory will help us to determine the health of the river corridor, recommend ways to preserve and expand riparian forests, and create buffers zones in agricultural and urban reaches.
Close up of the middle and lower Kaw watershed landcover map
Click on the links below for detailed subwatershed maps:
Delaware River Watershed
So just what is pollution from runoff?
We all know about pollution from industrial and municipal sources. When you turn on a faucet or flush your toilet water flows down pipes, leaving your home and entering a municipal sewer system. After it is treated in a wastewater treatment plant it is discharged into the river. Potentially contaminated water that enters the river from an identifiable location is what we call a point source, or end-of-pipe pollution, and it is carefully regulated by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But water can also flow over your lawn and driveway during a rainstorm, and it runs off agricultural fields and roads—this water eventually makes its way to the river without being treated. Water that picks up pollution by flowing over a lawn or field that has been sprayed with fertilizer or pesticides is called non-point source pollution. Another common term is “stormwater runoff” which emphasizes the role of rainfall in washing chemicals off the land and into the river.
Non-point source pollution is the biggest cause of water pollution in the U.S. and it is one of the hardest to control. Imagine how much motor oil is washed in the river during a storm—you have hundreds of neighbors with cars that leak small amounts of oil onto their driveways and the streets in your neighborhood, each contributing a small amount of pollution to the watershed you live in. When it rains, all that oil is picked up by the water flowing down the street and into the storm drains—and from there to the river. How do you control thousands of little sources of pollution? That’s why we all have to work together to control sormwater runoff, it is something we all contribute to and something we can all help to control. The old saying “it takes a village” is very true when it comes to helping our river by reducing nonpoint source pollution.
There are many things you can do to reduce runoff, whether you live in a city or small town, in a home or on a farm. Go to the more links page for suggestions on how you can help.
Stormwater runs off of paved streets to drains which are sometimes connected to wastewater treatment plants but oftentimes convey the untreated water directly to the river.
Stormwater drain emptying into the Kansas River
Best management practice for construction sites using silt fences.
Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) where animals are allowed to access streams and waste products run directly into streams when it rains.
Bank has eroded into crop land and pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers can be carried directly into river during rain event. Best management practice would be to install a buffer of trees and vegetation between cropland and river.