TOPEKA — Gov. Jeff Colyer has unveiled a plan to reduce siltation above four federal reservoirs, including John Redmond Reservoir in Coffey County.
Colyer’s announcement Wednesday comes with the reservoir losing 40 percent of its capacity since it was created. Other lakes in the Kansas Reservoir Protection Initiative, Fall River, Kanapolis and Tuttle Creek, have all lost at least 35 percent of their water storage.
The plan offers assistance to landowners in “targeted sub-watersheds,” including residents of Lyon, Coffey and Greenwood counties. Several agencies, including the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas Water Office and Regional Advisory Committees for the Neosho, Smoky Hill-Saline and Verdigris river basins are now prioritizing projects that will reduce sediment the most and thus extend the lives of the reservoirs.
Landowners interested in taking part told to reach out to their local county conservation district or Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) coordinator. Projects involving large gully repair or soil health such as reduced tillage, nutrient management and cover crops are highly encouraged.
The protection plan was funded by the 2018 Legislature and is a component of the state’s partial restoration of the Kansas Water Plan Fund. That money is set aside to handle Kansas Water Vision priority projects as recommended by the Kansas Water Authority.
Wednesday’s announcement follows an update for the governor and other state officials on the success of a unique dredging project at John Redmond earlier this decade. The project was the first of its kind in the nation where a non-federal agency coordinated the dredging of an Army Corps of Engineers-maintained reservoir.
