Protect. Advocate. Discover.

Chasing the Channel- Blog No. 36

Long summer days make for plenty of opportunities to enjoy the Kansas River!

I love spring in Kansas, but more directly, I love the month of June.  The longer days, native flowers are blooming, the Kansas River flows are usually pretty good for our work, and the most amazing sunrise and sunsets anywhere in the world.  If I could bottle up one month and hold it all year, for me it would be June. 

Like all spring seasons, we are very busy.  This is the time to get everyone outside to engage with the river and to educate young people about water quality.  We held educational paddle trips with college level groups to use the Kansas River as a living classroom.  Joey also enjoyed a busy yet fun spring season with our water quality education program in the schools.  One of the most impactful programs that we do is teaching young people about how macro-invertebrates are indicators of water quality.  You don’t need fancy water testing equipment, you just need a good understanding of macro-invertebrates and which ones are indicators of good water quality – and what the absence of those macros means for water quality.

Did you see the podcast about our work, UP FROM DUST, from KCUR?  We were so thrilled to be invited to participate in the Podcast!  Celia Llopis-Jepsen joined us on the Kansas River last March when we were removing tires near De Soto.  I also did an in-studio interview earlier this year.  Celia then interviewed all our Kaw River Guides that were on the sandbar for the cleanup.  The result was so good – because it tells our story and the story of the Kansas River.  Please go and listen to the Up From Dust Podcast from KCUR, then reach out and let us know what you think.  If you feel inclined, please consider a donation towards this important work.  It is expensive work!  Pleases consider a donation here: https://kansasriver.org/donation/?did=1

Spring and fall are by far the best seasons for river cleanups.  Spring is a good time for the land-based cleanups and fall is best for in-river cleanups.  This spring we held cleanups in Lawrence, Manhattan, and Topeka.  Thank you to all of you for helping us keep the river clean, because all trash is one windy day away from a river or stream.  Mark your calendar to join us for the 2^nd Annual One KC Cleanup in Kansas City, Kansas coming on Saturday, September 13, 2025.  Links to sign up are coming soon, so stay tuned to our newsletter and social media.

Our Kaw River Guides are back in full force this year – cleaning up the river, assisting with river checks, and helping the public learn how to paddle on the Kansas River. Our season is packed and we could not do this important work without them!  If you are interested in joining the group, we’d be glad to have you.  Reach out to me at riverkeeper@kansasriver.org.

We have held a host of events so far this year – including Beginner Wednesday’s; Beginner Camping; Themed Paddles such as Birds and Rivers, Bones on the Kaw, and Geology of the Kaw; and Kaw Currents, our educational series to learn more from our partners about a variety of topics relating to the Kansas River.  Thank you to everyone of you that joined us for one of these events. We have had so much fun getting to know you and sharing our love for the river! 

Switching gears, the Kansas Water Authority met twice since I last wrote this blog post. We met in April in Deerfield, KS and in June in Hutchinson, KS.  We have been working to restructure our committees to align with the State Water Plan. Each committee will be responsible for making budget recommendations and policy recommendations as we work to inform the Governor, the Legislature, and the Director of the Kansas Water Office on these issues.  Budgets are due from the agencies in September and our policy recommendations are included in the Annual Report to the Legislature that we approve in December each year.  In other news, the Water Planning Task Force is underway as detailed in House Bill 2172. The appointments have been made along with legislative leadership.  Their goal as outlined is for the task force to evaluate major risks to the quality and quantity of the state’s water supply, identify steps that the state must take to define and achieve a future supply of water for Kansans, and evaluate current funding.  The meeting dates have been announced with the first two on July 21 and 28 via online platform and then a two-day meeting in Dodge City on August 11 and 12. These meetings are open to public and you can find the information on the legislative YouTube channel.  We will also post any information announced to our social media.  Finally, on a sad note, one of our dear friends and members of the Kansas Water Authority passed away suddenly.  Our dear friend John was a champion for the public, for the long-term future water supply, and for the need to regionalize and combined water systems for the benefit of the public.  We will continue to carry John’s message and we will miss his voice and friendship. 

For my last update, but certainly not the least, I wanted to take a moment to publicly say THANK YOU to the Evergy Green Team for the donation of a “new to us” truck!  We are so very grateful for the partnership with the Green Team for over a decade to remove tires and heavy trash from the Kansas River.  We use our truck for river cleanups, educational events, and to haul our trailers full of kayaks and our jon boat.  We keep the truck busy…thank you Evergy Green Team for this incredible gift! 

In closing, the season is not over.  We have many more events coming up this fall and we hope to see you out there.  Also mark your calendar for Beers of the Kaw on Sunday, November 2, 2025 at Abe & Jake’s Landing in Lawrence.  Tickets will go on sale in September! 

In the meantime, I hope that you have sand in your shoes.

For the river,
Dawn Buehler

Kansas Riverkeeper & Executive Director