The Arkansas River begins high in the Rocky Mountains near Leadville, Colorado. It descends the eastern slope of the Continental Divide as a clear mountain stream and flows through the flat agricultural lands of southeastern Colorado and western and central Kansas. The Little Arkansas is a major tributary of the Arkansas River, and originates approximately 75 miles northwest of Wichita. The Little Arkansas flows southeasterly for about 90 river miles to its confluence with the Arkansas River in the central part of Wichita. Within the Wichita-Sedgwick County area, both rivers are sandy, meandering streams.

The Arkansas River and Little Arkansas River are valuable assets to the Wichita and surrounding community providing pastoral beauty, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities to Wichita and the region. There are many amenities that are located on or near the Arkansas River in Wichita, including the Mid-America Indian Center which features Blackbear Bosin’s Keeper of the Plains, Exploration Place - a children’s science museum, Water Walk – a conference, shopping and entertainment district, the River Bike Path, and the beautiful Riverside Park. Over the years, water quality in the rivers has improved with more effective treatment technologies, better land management practices, and increasingly more stringent water quality regulations. Nevertheless, there is opportunity for additional improvement.

For several years, the Kansas Department of Health & Environment (KDHE) placed segments of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers on the 303(d) impairment list due to exceedances of water quality standards for EscherichiaColiform (E. coli) associated with human health. Previous federal funding has been used to complete initial river water quality studies and upgrade/install sewer maintenance infrastructure for river water quality improvements.

The cleanup of this river and its tributaries are such an important quality of life issue for Wichita, that the Visioneering Wichita program, a plan that will ensure a quality of life that encourages our young people to live, learn, work and play in our regional community, has identified this goal recently as one of its top priorities.

Designated uses for all watershed segments include Secondary Contact Recreation and Expected Aquatic Life Support. Designated uses for main stem watershed segments include Primary Contact Recreation, Domestic Water Supply, Food Procurement, Groundwater Recharge, Industrial Water Supply Use, Irrigation Use, and Livestock Watering Use.

Because of the Arkansas River watershed’s importance to the community, the City of Wichita, partners, and community stakeholders have employed the following watershed planning and capacity building efforts over the years.

• Arkansas River Symposium
  In September 2000, the City of Wichita organized an Arkansas River Symposium to bring together stakeholders for the purpose of hearing success stories from other communities and to provide an opportunity for participants to provide their input through breakout sessions on Arkansas River water quality issues and how water quality improvements could be achieved.
• Arkansas River Water Quality Study
  A study that evaluated source contribution, fate and transport, and control of Fecal Coliform levels in the Arkansas River.
• Arkansas River Advisory & Technical Task Forces
  Established after the Symposium in 2000, the Arkansas River Advisory Committee provides a two-way communication link to the diverse elements within the community and river basin. The Technical Task Force examined river issues from a technical perspective and kept the Advisory Committee informed of outcomes. A successful venture that was implemented by the Advisory Committee was the River Ambassador study which polled attendees at the annual River Festival regarding their knowledge of river pollution and ideas for improvement.
• Arkansas River Coalition
  The Arkansas River Coalition is a non-profit organization working to protect and improve the Arkansas River Watershed.
• Arkansas River Trash Roundup
  Held in conjunction with American Rivers as part of the “National River Cleanup” initiative on the first Saturday in May. Local sponsors of this event include the City of Wichita, Cargill Corporation and Ducks Unlimited. In 2010, a record 2.8 tons of trash was removed from the river involving more than 600 volunteers.
• Arkansas River Corridor Access Plan
  The City of Wichita and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) have formed a coalition to fund development of a Master Plan for recreational access to the Arkansas River.
• Stormwater Management Advisory Board
  This board was appointed by the Sedgwick County Commissioners to protect lives and property within Wichita/ Sedgwick County by promoting better stormwater management and providing financial, technical and other assistance to all entities within Sedgwick County that are concerned with stormwater management.
• Regional Economic Area Partnership Water Resources Committee
  This Committee was formed as a subset committee of REAP with the purpose of serving as a regional forum and informational resource for water quality and quantity issues in South Central Kansas. The Committee is currently comprised of 27 cities and counties.
• Wichita Initiative to Renew the Environment
  - the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded the Wichita Initiative to Renew the Environment (WIRE) a Level I Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) grant. Level I CARE grants are awarded to communities with the focus of creating a healthier community by addressing environmental concerns. A comprehensive community survey that was initiated by WIRE identified the Arkansas River water quality ranked as one of the highest levels of environmental concerns.
• Wichita Visioneering Environmental Sustainability Alliance
  Stakeholders who promote the sustainability of the Wichita region by facilitating collaboration and integrated solutions among individuals and organizations, and serving as a resource, catalyst and advocate for environmental, economic and social sustainability.
• RiverCity Watershed Restoration Assessment Planning Strategy
  The mission is to develop and implement water quality improvement projects in the community that restore and protect the overall health of the Arkansas River watershed ecosystem. RiverCity WRAPS has completed the development phase. The goal of the development phase was to create a community of watershed stakeholders and equip them to effectively lead the watershed though the process of developing a WRAPS. The next step is the assessment phase which will assist this organization to inventory what historical and previous watershed actions, and opportunities for restoration and protective actions in the watershed.

By garnering information from past activities and partnering with current efforts, the WRAPS organization believes that this project proposal will enhance the current Assessment and Planning Phase by proposing a watershed improvement demonstration project as well as, providing tools to strengthen the partnerships among the current stakeholder leadership team.