Protect. Advocate. Discover.

Chasing the Channel- Blog No. 33

Advocacy, Beer, and Volunteers

Someone asked me the other day, “what have you been up to”?  That is a big question with a million answers and I would sum up the summer and fall of my work for Friends of the Kaw with “it has been BUSY”!

A good portion of my time this year has been spent working on the Strategic Implementation Plan for the Kansas Water Plan per Governor Kelly’s request to the Kansas Water Authority (KWA) back in January. The initial recommendations should include a large-scale, long-term investment framework around the five guiding principles of the State Water Plan before the 2025 legislative session.  I am pleased to say that we are well on our way and hope to have the plan delivered to the Governor later this year.

This is an important time for water in Kansas and I hope you will join me in talking to your friends and family about the importance of these issues. You can sign up for a virtual on-demand webinar and take a survey to record your priorities, as well as learn more on the Kansas Water Office website: https://www.kwo.ks.gov/news-events/kwa-strategic-planning

We enjoyed a beautiful summer and fall season on the Kansas River for Beginner Wednesday’s and our student educational paddle trips.  The early summer saw a great deal of rain and unpredictable river flows; however, we are right back into drought conditions in the fall.  We enjoyed taking many of you out on our beautiful river to learn more about this important natural resource in our state. Thank you for trusting us as your “go to” for all things Kansas River!

We kicked off another season of our Kids About Water classes and Joey has been busy educating the next generation about water quality.  These classes are so important to fostering an understanding of the issues that face our rivers and streams, but these classes also showcase that a career in the water field is an option that we hope students will consider. We also finished one grant and started another – all building towards an online educational platform that will make our programs more equitable.  Big congratulations to both Kim and Joey for their work on these important projects to ensure that students will be able to learn about these issues for generations to come.

The Kansas River Water Trail had a busy summer and fall also.  We were thrilled for the ribbon cutting for the kayak and canoe storage locker back in June. We are also working to finish the information kiosks at the remaining access ramps on the river trail.  We also won a grant to finish the safety kiosks.  When we are done with these two grants, we will have safety kiosks at all 19 access ramps.  These safety kiosks will include QR codes for river flows and reservoir releases, education about how sandbars form, and the free use of life jackets. We are so thrilled about bringing this important safety feature to the Kansas River Water Trail! 

We completed our project at Kaw River State Park in Topeka this year.  We are so proud of the work that we accomplished with our partners, volunteers, and YOU.  The space has a lot less invasive plant species and more native plant species. All that work means better water quality, habitat, and bank control. 

 This summer and fall we have also launched several new cleanups to reach of our goal of four major cleanups each year that include both land and river based cleanup teams.  The cleanups each year going forward are as follows:  Manhattan Little Apple Cleanup, Together Topeka Cleanup, Lawrence Earth Day Cleanup, and the One KC Cleanup.  Our calendar will be out in early 2025 with the dates, so stay tuned.

The inaugural One KC Cleanup was a huge success this year.  We had a great turnout with many partners and pulled historical trash from the Kansas River including a double axle trailer, part of an old boat, tires, and trash. 

We also hosted our annual tire cleanup earlier this month and volunteers pulled 544 tires out of the sandbars, of which 213 were taken off the river.  We will go back this winter to get the remaining tires and many more we did not get pulled out yet.  We are well on the way to our goal of having the big trash removed from the Kansas River by 2030.  If you would like to volunteer, please send an email to info@kansasriver.org.  Our annual Kaw River Guide Workshop will be next May and that is a great opportunity to learn more about that program. 

At the end of September, our team went to the Waterkeeper Alliance Conference in Milwaukee. We enjoyed learning about emerging issues, education, and ways to work for our river.  We also really enjoyed just spending time together without being pulled in different directions – team building!

My last update for this long overdue blog post is that recently we hosted our end of season Kaw River Guide camping weekend.  This is their weekend with no work to do, no tires to dig out….nothing but friendship around the campfire.  This is our very small way of thanking them for all they do to make the Kansas River healthier for all of us.  Please join me in thanking our Kaw River Guides, who give so much, and expect nothing in turn. 

As you can see from this long blog post, we have accomplished so much – and the year is not done yet.  All this great work only happens thanks to your volunteer efforts, sponsorship, support, and donations. We are hosting our biggest fundraiser of the year, Beers of the Kaw, this weekend on Sunday, November 3, 2024 from 3 to 6 pm at Abe & Jake’s Landing.  Please get your ticket and join us to raise a glass to toast this great year of work for the river!  If you cannot join us, please consider purchasing a ticket to support our work all year long:  https://tinyurl.com/yc7wn9he.  We are truly grateful for your support…without you, this work would not be possible.  These are your accomplishments!

As the season comes to an end, it is time for our fleet and staff to rest a bit for the winter.  I will still monitor the Kansas River all winter with the Kaw River Guides, but a little slower pace is needed for everyone to enjoy more time with family, enjoy winter paddling, and read a good book.

I hope to see you at Beers of the Kaw!  If you have read this far and make it to Beers, come and say hi!

May you always have sand in your shoes.

For the river,

Dawn Buehler

Kansas Riverkeeper