Chasing the Channel – Blog No. 11

Join me in a moment of silence, please.

Last week we joined the City of Topeka in celebration of the completion of Phase I construction of the Topeka Weir, which included a chute and fish ladder. While this is a remarkable milestone, truly safer conditions will not be achieved on the south bank until Phase II is completed, and even then passage should always be on the north side through the chute. We should not forget Joshua Bryant, Richard Heyroth, and Ryan L. Moore.  All three of these souls died on the Kansas River while going over the Topeka Weir, a structure known as a keeper hydraulic, a water flow that recirculates objects that get caught in it.  While we celebrate the completion of Phase I of safe passage, we also remember those that died.  Bryant and Heyroth died in 2007 and Moore in 2011. 

This has been a long time coming, and for many, it took too long.  In 2011, Mike Calwell with Friends of the Kaw, and David Green, best friend of Ryan Moore, began their efforts to bring safety to the Kansas Rive Topeka Weir.  Read here: https://www.cjonline.com/article/20111125/NEWS/311259862  We owe a debt of gratitude for their early efforts for safe passage. 

Over the course of 10 years, many people have helped to bring this project to completion.  My blog post is meant to honor the memory of the three people that died, and share all that I know about the people behind the celebration that made this happen.  More about the project: https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/county/2020/09/20/construction-set-to-begin-monday-to-fix-section-of-deadly-kansas-river-weir/43121033/

I’m sure I am not privy to the entire story, and some stories I’m sure have never been told, but in my 7 years with Friends of the Kaw, the ones that I know include these four people as constants in the efforts to bring safe passage to the Kansas River Topeka Weir:

• Mike Calwell, Founding Board Member of Friends of the Kaw
• David Green, best friend of Ryan Moore
• Karen Hiller, Topeka City Councilwoman
• Bill Riphahn, Shawnee County Commission, and formerly with Shawnee County Parks & Recreation

Join me in thanking these four people for their constant efforts, most often behind the scenes and away from the spotlight. 

Once the project started to get more attention, the final advocacy push came from many people:

• Friends of the Kaw Staff, Members and Board of Directors (including former Kansas Riverkeeper, Laura Calwell)
• Topeka Riverfront Advisory Council
• Dirty Girl Adventure Owners and Members
• Aaron Deters, formerly with Kansas Dept. of Wildlife Parks & Tourism
• Jordan Hofmeier, Kansas Dept. of Wildlife Parks & Tourism
• Brent Trout, Topeka City Manager
• Kelly Ryan, formerly with Topeka Utilities
• Braxtyn Copley, Deputy Director of Utilities, City of Topeka
• Riverfront Action Team
• And to the Topeka City Council for their efforts to approve the project and supporting funding to do so. 
• Please forgive me if someone was forgotten.

Everything that we do for the Kansas River involves volunteers, members and partners and this project is no different.  I want thank our Topeka FOK Members and Board Members for continuing to write letters to their council members, calling them, and never giving up.  Thank you to the business Dirty Girl Adventures in Topeka for joining us to advocate and for pushing their Topeka members to contact their representatives.  It truly took all of us. 

News about the Ribbon Cutting:  https://www.wibw.com/2021/05/07/topeka-organizations-held-a-kansas-river-weir-ribbon-cutting-ceremony/

We celebrate the completion of Phase I of construction on the north side, wait for Phase II on the south side to start in September, and remember the souls that were lost and whose memories pushed us to get to this day. 

I also would like to take this opportunity to thank Mike Calwell, may he rest in peace.  I was grateful to get to see him in the days before he passed away.  I knew it might be the last time I saw him, so I whispered in his ear that I promised that I would see this fight to the end.  I promised that I would do anything I could to continue Mike’s advocacy for safe passage through Topeka.  Mike, our collective efforts got us here today.  So many people participated and that’s just how you always believed it would happen.   

I wish you were here.  You were among the early voices to demand change.  May you rest in peace knowing the one thing you wanted above all else, happened.

In all things we do…

For the river,

Dawn Buehler

Your Kansas Riverkeeper