To protect and preserve the Kansas River

Transcription

1 September 2013 KANSAS RIVER CURRENTS To protect and preserve the Kansas River Lenexa Boy Scout float and clean up on July 27th, WaterOne Coffer Dam Cleanup on July 13th, Governor s River Recreation Committee Float on July 18th, 2013.

2 From the Riverkeeper... by Laura Calwell Dear Friends, We have a very busy fall schedule planned and I hope that you will be able to enjoy one of the many events that Friends of the Kaw or others have planned to benefit or feature the Kaw! Check out page 4 for details on the entertaining and educational events planned in the Kaw River Watershed. Friends of the Kaw continues to be successful as a conservation organization because of our dedicated staff and many, many active volunteers. We want to wish Chad Lamer and his family good luck in their new community of Boise, Idaho. Chad has served on our board since 2005 providing sage legal advice and outstanding leadership he was our president for 2010, 2011 and We have a new president this year, Christina Ruiz a hard worker and dedicated to protection of the Kaw. Our other wonderful officers are RJ Stephenson, VP; Moni Spinger, Treasurer and Steve Cringan, Secretary. Our board members at large are Joanne Bergman, Mike Calwell, Lisa Grossman, Nick Holliday, Heidi Mehl, Bill Modrcin, Jim Neese, Jim Steichen and Jim Walton. This year we welcomed new board member, Sarah Hill Nelson and nominated to fill Chad s position is Kelly Savage. Our board helps with floats, events, fundraising, newsletters and much, much more. We also have a list of volunteers that help us on a regular basis thanks to those who are too number some to list. We could not be as successful without all their help! We always need more volunteers so if you are interested in becoming more active with our organization please get in touch with myself or Christina. We are working on a volunteer survey that will be sent out to our members starting this fall this will be another opportunity to volunteer or just tell us what you think! I would also like to recognize Friends of the Kaw s program and communications director, Mike Rawitch he is a recent graduate of K-State in geography and started last September as the project manager for our Together Green Grant. We immediately recognized Mike s attention to detail, can-do attitude and great personality and we expanded his position in January. We are also thankful for the part time assistance of Maril Hazlett, for assistance with grants and research, Wendy Griswold, as our educational consultant, Tawny King as our graphic designer and Teresa Glidewell for her writing and computer skills. See you on the river! Laura P.S. We launched a new web site in June it has much of the same information in a brighter, bolder format with a new navigation system that allows easy use from tablets and smart phones. It s still at the same address - if you are seeing the same old web site you need to clear your cache.

3 Dredging Report The Kansas River has been commercially mined (dredged) for sand and gravel since the early 1900 s. Sand from the Kaw is highly sought after because of its size and shape, which makes it particularly valuable to the concrete industry. Kansans have benefited from good quality roads and buildings thanks to the Kaw. In recent years, however, dredging activities have been documented through careful studies to have caused significant damage to the Kaw s riverbed, to habitat in and along the river, and to water quality, resulting in the Corps closing stretches of the river to further dredging. In 2012 American Rivers named the Kansas River as one of the 10 most endangered rivers in the nation primarily due to the increased threat of in-river sand dredging. The final Environmental Assessment will completed this Fall by the US Army Corps of Engineers, and could decide the fate of our river for generations to come. Recent Developments: Beginning in 2012 Friends of the Kaw received a grant from the Water Protection Network to work with the Kansas State University River Systems Research Group to monitor and study dredge operations on the river. In year one of the study the dredge hole east of Topeka in the Kansas River was surveyed on three separate occasions. The first survey, in October 2012, followed an exceptionally low flow year on the Kansas River. The survey established that the dredge hole depth was approximately 33 feet deeper than the nearby channel of the Kansas River. The average river water depth at the time of this survey was less than 4 feet. After a dry winter with no flows capable of transporting large quantities of sediment, the dredge site was resurveyed on June 16th, This repeat survey revealed a substantially larger dredge hole of the same depth. It appeared that the dredging operation had extended directly into a large sand bar exposed by low flow, and was removing sand from the bar. The next steps in the study will be to process data from the most recent survey, and to sample the site again after recent high flows to measure how much sediment is removed from downstream transport. With that information researchers can then model the effect on river bed stability upstream and downstream with various intensities of permitted dredging. Results from this, and other studies, suggest that after a dredge hole is established it will continue to grow up and downstream causing more damage to the riverbed. Further study is necessary to confirm this hypothesis, and dredging operations should be suspended until further studies can be completed. What can you do? Stay tuned! This Fall the US Army Corps of Engineers will post their draft Environmental Assessment for the public to comment on. Friends of the Kaw has been closely monitoring this situation, and we will need support from you. Once the assessment draft is made available, the public will have between 21 and 28 days to comment on the draft. After reviewing all of the comments the Corps of Engineers will make a final decision on dredging in the River. Friends of the Kaw will notify all of our members, and request your support. We will need as many people as possible to comment on the assessment, and provide objections to continuing the damaging process of in-river dredging.

4 Friends of the Kaw s Fall Schedule Mark your calendar for any or all of these fall floats and events! September 7, Saturday Gritty Fitty Canoe & Kayak Race from Lawrence to Kaw Point. Race start at 8:00am and finish and celebration from 4:00 to 7:00pm at Kaw Point Park. September 12, Thursday FOK Program for the KS Masters Naturalist Class at 6:30pm at the Johnson County Extension Office, S. Sunset, Olathe. September 14, Saturday - Community float from De Soto to Cedar Creek and De Soto Rain Garden maintenance from 9:00am to 2:00pm. Boat rental is waived but participants must RSVP with the Kansas Riverkeeper. September 17, Tuesday FOK Village U Program from 6:30 to 8:00pm at the Village Presbyterian Church, 6651 Mission Rd, Prairie Village. September 24, Tuesday FOK Program for the Topeka Sierra Club at 7:00pm at the Topeka Library, 1515 SW 10th Ave. September 28, Saturday Concert for the Climate from 11:00am to 6:00pm at Kaw Point Park, Robert Kennedy Jr., Keynote speaker, FREE admission. September 29, Sunday UMKC Float from De Soto to Cedar Creek. October 3, Thursday Prairie Village Environmental Forum, 5:30 to 8:30pm at the Village Presbyterian Church, 6651 Mission Rd, RSVPs must be made for dinner. October 7, Monday Greenwish Golf Tournament, 7:30am to 1:30pm at the Alvamar Country Club in Lawrence, $125 entry fee, contact Pete Knutson at pete@mcdanielknutson.com or Greenwish is a grassroots, non-profit organization that funds local green organization (like Friends of the Kaw) through customers small donations at local retailers. October 11, Friday Friends of the Kaw hosts the Wild & Scenic Film Festival at 7:00pm at Liberty Hall, 642 Mass, Lawrence, tickets $10 in advance, $12 at the door, RSVP for free student and teacher tickets. October 24 & 25, Thursday and Friday Governor s Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas, all day at the Hilton Garden Inn and Conference Center in Manhattan, KS. Register early this conference sold out last year. November 5, Tuesday Friends of the Kaw s Annual Dinner and Silent Action from 6:00 to 9:00pm at Tortas Jalisco Restaurant, 534 Frontier Rd, Lawrence, KS For more information or to RSVP contact the Kansas Riverkeeper at

5 Are You a Kaw Paddler? The Kawnivore The June 22nd Kawnivore began with the bang of Mike Calwell s Lewis and Clark flintlock rifle replica at the start of a 34 mile race on the Kaw River from Topeka, Kansas to the University of Kansas Boathouse in Lawrence. A short Le Mans foot race started from the base of the downstream Topeka ramp to staged boats up above. The bottleneck then ensued for all but the first group of racers on foot with boats in arms down to water. Two weary paddlers are happy to finally arrive at the boathouse dock to finish the Kawnivore. The conditions were brutal; a 94-degree high on a low 2690cfs river and mph winds with 30 mph gusts before race end. Racers finished between 4 hours 56 minutes to 10 hours 20 minutes as the wind conditions worsened throughout the afternoon. Regardless, even the last paddlers finished with smiles on their faces after experiencing what local paddlers call The Wind Tunnel, the last stretch of water in this particular course. Gritty Fitty Save the date! September 7th is the 51 mile Gritty Fitty race from Lawrence to Kansas City. Be part of the longest of the Kaw Paddler races this year. Racers will begin at the 8th Street boat ramp and battle for a finish at Kaw Point. The last 15 miles is known to be the hardest of the course with very little current, but oh the finish in KC is sweet! Kawlloween October 26th marks the 2013 Kawlloween, a 20 mile fast and furious race from Lawrence to De Soto. Standard competitive divisions will be included as well as a non-competitive cruising division that paddles from Eudora to De Soto, the last 10 miles of the course, and will be led by Laura Calwell, our Kansas Riverkeeper. New to this race will be a competitive parent/child division. Advance tandem canoe and kayak rentals will be available through Friends of the Kaw. Participants who paddle in costume receive a prize. Join us on the Kaw. Be a Kaw Paddler. Your support benefits Friends of the Kaw and increases recreation and awareness on our National Water Trail. For more information, visit or kawpaddler@gmail.com.

6 FOK Annual Dinner & Silent Auction Once a year Friends of the Kaw hosts a dinner meeting with a speaker. While our board meets bi-monthly, most of our activities focus around Kaw River float trips with an occasional cleanup sprinkled in. Our annual dinner is a great opportunity for our members to meet each other, learn more about a river related topic and do some holiday shopping at our silent auction. Please join us for a wonderful dinner at Tortas Jalisco s Restaurant at 534 Frontier Rd, Lawrence, KS Angel Alverez, owner of Tortas Jalisco s and winner of the Riverkeeper Award at the last River City Cookoff, will have a fabulous, endless Taco Bar for this event. The cost of $35 per person includes dinner, drink and dessert. RSVPs need to be made by November 1 using the form below or calling Laura at Events: 6:00 Social hour, cash bar and bidding on the auction items 7:00 Dinner 7:30 Program 8:30 Bidding continues 8:45 Silent Auction Closes Keynote Speaker Kristin Riott Executive Director of Bridging the Gap Kristin Riott began her environmental career by growing a single sweet pea blossom from seed in lousy suburban soil in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was sidetracked for a number of years by a career in creative management at Hallmark Cards. Moving to Hong Kong in 2000 for her husband s career, she and her family witnessed the rapid environmental degradation so easy to see in crowded Asian cities. Upon returning to Kansas City, she became active in various environmental movements, and in 2007 trained with Al Gore to become a spokesperson for climate change. She is also chairperson of Johnson County Climate Protection, a group devoted to reducing greenhouse gases in greater Kansas City. Bridging The Gap has just completed a year and a half of work with water conservation for the City of Kansas City, MO and the U.S. Department of Energy. Kristin will give an overview of fresh water globally, nationally, and locally, including how water is used at home, the water-energy "nexus", and a summary of Bridging The Gap's recent work with citizens on conservation. Ticket Order Form Wild and Scenic Film Festival Tickets and/or Annual Dinner & Silent Auction: Name: Address: City: State: Zip: Phone: Film Festival Tickets x $10 = $ Annual Dinner & Silent Auction Tickets x $35 = $ Check enclosed or Visa or MC Card # Expires: receipt confirmation (Y/N) Mail to: Friends of the Kaw c/o Laura Calwell 5610 W. 61st Terrace Mission, KS For more information or questions: riverkeeper@kansasriver.org

7 Friday, October 11, 7:00 pm Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St. Lawrence, KS Tickets: Suggested donation of $10 in advance or $12 at the door (cash only) Ways to Purchase Advance Tickets * Donate at * use the order form on Page 3. * Liberty Hall box office * Ticketmaster All proceeds benefit Friends of the Kaw Introductory Memberships at Festival only $15 (new members only) The Belvue Access ramp was finished last spring under the supervision of Mike Calwell with the assistance of Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Westar s Green Team and many local businesses and volunteers. Now there is an access ramp about every 10 miles between Junction City to Belvue, and Topeka to Kansas City. We just need one or two more accesses between Belvue and Kaw River State Park in Topeka and the Kansas River Water Trail will be complete. A ribbon cutting will happen at the Belvue access ramp sometime this fall and we ll notify everyone via our newsletter and social media.

8 FRIENDS OF THE KAW MEMBERSHIP FORM Yes, I want to join (or renew). Here is my membership contribution to support the Friends of the Kaw. $15 - Introductory $35 - Good Friend $50 - Very Good Friend $100 - Very Very Good Friend $500 - Best Friend Name: Street: City: State: Zip: Clean Water Creates Strong Communities - Join FOK KANSAS RIVERKEEPER Donation $ (Donations will be used for an AllAtOnce matching grant thru 10/15/2010.) VISA/MASTERCARD # Expiration Date Please Mail To: Friends of the Kaw P.O. Box 1612 Lawrence, KS Check this box to save the paper and postage! Please send my newsletters by . PO Box 1612 Lawrence, KS RIV-KEEP riverkeeper@kansasriver.org