An initiative which provides financial assistance to landowners in priority watersheds to implement sediment-reducing conservation practices to enhance sediment reduction efforts above federal reservoirs where water supply storage is impacted by sedimentation.

Purpose

Protect water supply storage and improve water quality in reservoirs across Kansas that provide water to municipal and industrial customers. This will be done through implementation of watershed BMPs within priority watersheds. These are individual or a combination of practices that are determined to be the most effective and practicable (including technological, economic, and institutional considerations) means of controlling point and non-point sources of pollution at levels compatible with resource and economic goals. BMPs which can be utilized to reduce sediment and nutrient runoff in watersheds above water supply sources in Kansas include but are not limited to cover crops, grassed waterways, and buffer strips. Water storage is being diminished over time due to reservoir sedimentation. Water quality is being impacted by nutrient runoff, potentially resulting in harmful algae blooms, taste and odor issues with drinking water, and impacts to recreation in Kansas.

Eligible Areas

BMP implementation will be targeted in areas identified by using the most currently available assessment information that has been determined to yield the highest sediment reductions as well as have the highest impact on sediment inflows into these seven reservoirs. See the map for targeted areas included within the Kansas Reservoir Protection Initiative for SFY 2026.

Contacts

Landowners in eligible watersheds interested in participating in the Kansas Reservoir Protection Initiative can contact their respective County Conservation District or local Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) Project Coordinator. Please see the link at the top of the page for local program contact information. For other inquiries regarding the Kansas Reservoir Protection Initiative, please contact Lauren Campbell at 785-296-0868 or by email at Lauren.Campbell@kwo.ks.gov.