by Anne Brockhoff, photos by Steven Hertzog
Understanding and protecting Douglas County's rivers, lakes and wetlands is a multifaceted process including many state and local entities. Clouds blanketed Douglas County in early November, delivering showers that drenched runners, muddied construction sites and paused the county’s soybean harvest. Part of that moisture soaked into the ground, but much of it rushed over parking lots and fields, through creeks and ditches, and into the area’s rivers, lakes and wetlands. That the water didn’t stay put isn’t surprising. What might be is how complicated managing its movement through the Kansas River Basin is. Rainfall that enters the Wakarusa River, Clinton Lake, Baker University Wetlands, Lone Star Lake, Douglas State Fishing Lake and countless other waterways eventually drains to a single point: the Kansas River. That flows into the Missouri River, then the Mississippi River and finally the Gulf of Mexico. 42
It’s all connected, so decisions made upstream and down by myriad local, city and state governments, federal agencies including the U.S. Corps of Engineers, nonprofits and other entities impact drinking water, flood control, recreation, industry and wildlife habitat in Douglas County. The system seems vast, but at the same time, it’s hyperlocal. Choices made by every local land user impact the quantity and quality of available water throughout the system, as farmers like Daniel Squires, of Lawrence, well know. “Our kids are growing up playing on Clinton Lake,” says Squires, whose family has farmed in Douglas County since 1860. “We drink the water that comes out of the river and lake, and we want to make that just as safe as anybody else does. That’s a big reason this is important to farmers.”
