By Amelia Arvesen
KU Statehouse Wire Service

When Dawn Buehler cupped the Kansas River’s water in her hands 30 years ago, it was full of silt and mud. She said it’s clearer now, like water should be.

However, threats to clean water still exist often below the surface created by street runoff, fertilizers and illegally dumped liquids. Buehler wants to do something about it.

“Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there,” she said.

In March, she became the new Kansas Riverkeeper, a position through the nonprofit Friends of the Kaw dedicated to protecting the river’s health. The 173-mile river begins in Junction City and stretches to Kansas City where it empties into the Missouri River.

“The river provides 800,000 Kansans with drinking water,” Buehler said. “It’s a drinking water source for our families and we need to keep the water quality clean.”

Other agencies such as the Kansas Department of Health and Environment also monitor water supply and water quality standards. Buehler said there’s no harm in ensuring it’s even cleaner.

In 2012, Gov. Sam Brownback called for a long-term plan to improve the state’s future water supply with some parts addressing quality. In March, a team from the Kansas Water Office presented to communities a third draft of the Kansas Water Vision in order to establish regional goals.

Key phases of the plan include water management, educating the public on the importance of water conservation and dredging state lakes to increase water storage capacity.

Since it’s creation in 1991, Friends of the Kaw has also advocated for the removal of in-river sand dredging, or scooping sediment from the riverbeds used to make concrete and build roads. The organization pushes for dredges to be relocated to designated sites higher on the banks.

Removing sand from the river widens and deepens the channel, disrupting wildlife, causing erosion and increasing contamination and pollution by activating buried organic chemical compounds, according to the American Rivers nonprofit.

When sediment naturally fills in reservoirs, dredging is necessary to increase storage capacity. Tracy Streeter, Kansas Water Office director, said although it varies in different parts of the state, 85 percent of water on average is devoted to irrigating agriculture and 10 percent is devoted to municipal uses.

“We’ve been working on water quality for years,” Streeter said. “Fundamentally, we want to make sure we have enough water.”

Buehler said the turbulence from dredging, whether in a reservoir or a river, makes it more difficult for water filtration systems to work effectively. She said an increase in conservation measures would effectively decrease the rate at which reservoirs fill with sediment.

Earlier this year, the state began dredging the John Redmond Reservoir in southeast Kansas. The project is expected to cost approximately $25 million, according to the Kansas Legislature. A State Water Plan Fund utilizes revenue from sources like municipal water bill fees, but Streeter said it is inadequate to sustain the plan.

Brownback is establishing a Blue Ribbon Task force to evaluate finances, which includes seeking private and public partnerships.

The final draft of the Water Vision is slated for presentation to legislators at the end of the year. Buehler said she hopes the preservation of existing water isn’t overlooked.

“I don’t think we can create more water,” Buehler said. “I think we need to conserve the water we already have.”

In the meantime, she is dedicated to educating the public about simple ways to conserve and ways to prevent contaminating fresh bodies of water.

“If they learn young to turn the facet off, they’ll likely do it for the rest of their life,” Buehler said.

Amelia Arvesen is a University of Kansas senior from San Ramon, Calif., majoring in journalism.