All sides share views of water quality study
Corps working with WRAPS, Hillsboro
Staff reporter
Water quality issues at Marion Reservoir are reaching a fevered pitch with local entities grappling over the best approach to conduct a feasibility study to determine the best means to improve the drinking water.
Marion County Commission signed on with WRAPS (Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy) by providing the necessary matching funds to conduct the study. The WRAPS feasibility study includes the entire watershed district which includes Marion Reservoir.
Accusations have been made by the City of Hillsboro that entities were left out of discussions regarding the study. Marion County Commissioner Dan Holub disagrees.
"I have proof that the cities (Marion, Hillsboro, and Peabody) and the Corps (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) were invited to those meetings," Holub said, referring to copies of letters and e-mails sent by WRAPS coordinator Peggy Blackman.
Holub also named those representatives from the entities who attended the meetings.
Numerous meetings were held which led to a decision to "go with WRAPS," Holub said.
More concerns were raised, Holub said, when the office of Congressman Jerry Moran said they couldn't support the county and the Corps with congressional aid because Hillsboro was going one direction and the county another.
After the decision was made to go with the WRAPS program, Holub said he and Marion City Councilman Jerry Kline met with Hillsboro representatives with concerns about the importance of supporting the WRAPS program.
Hillsboro City Administrator Steve Garrett said the City of Hillsboro supports the WRAPS grant program for the water quality study.
"In fact, we're going to help with the matching portion," Garrett said.
Garrett said this was not just a Hillsboro perspective but there were others in support of contacting the Corps to explore other options.
Garrett said he and his group "feel strongly" that there should be two tracks — the WRAPS component and addressing drinking water and recreational use issues.
"As things were presented to agencies asking for funding, the drinking water concerns and recreational concerns fell by the wayside," Garrett said. "We feel that the WRAPS program is adequate and will accomplish what it needs to do but the more immediate needs of safety for people have not been addressed. And part of the way to address those issues will be with the Corps involvement."
So is a feasibility study through the Corps in the works?
"We're not talking about a Corps feasibility study. We're not sure what we're going to do," Garrett said.
He continued that the group had a goal of maintaining a relationship with the Corps office of the Tulsa district.
"We need to make sure a county-funded study would be accepted by the Corps and avoid duplication of efforts," Garrett said. "If they (WRAPS) does a study without the Corps input and cooperation, it would have to be done again — a duplication of effort."
Garrett said he and others have spent a lot of time in meetings and did not hear facts, just information from professionals.
"It's not a 'them' or 'us'," Garrett said. "It's 'Let's get this whole thing done'. WRAPS is one aspect."
Human contact in the lake is the concern, he said.
"We want to look for something that gives us tools to make sure that water contact is going to be safe," Garrett said.
He wants people to consider other options and keep an open mind, and WRAPS is not the only answer.
"If we attack from more than one front, we just might win the war," Garrett said.
According to Blackman, $150,000 has been requested for congressional assistance and Kansas Water Office has earmarked $150,000 in matching funds for a total of $300,000 for the Corps for a study or whatever is determined to be the best course of action.
"Our intention was never to exclude anyone (Hillsboro or the Corps)," Blackman said. "The more partners we have at the table, the more work we can accomplish."
Environmental Protection Agency required a study be conducted within the watershed, Blackman said, to determine pollutants coming into the reservoir.
If a study is not conducted, then the WRAPS program cannot continue with applications for funding to implement the program, she said.
"All activities within the watershed and implementation of water quality would cease," Blackman said.
Blackman sees no separation between the watershed and the reservoir because the watershed program addresses reservoir shoreline stabilization, and water quality and water sediment monitoring.
"This is not just a farmer's program," she said. "It's a water quality program."
At a recent meeting, Blackman said Corps officials of the Tulsa district requested more information about the WRAPS program so similar programs could be implemented at other reservoirs within the Tulsa district.
"When producers spend $163,000 out of their own pockets for improved water quality, it's not too much to ask the communities to contribute," Blackman said.
Marc Chester, operations project manager of the Corps, said the Corps supports the WRAPS program and feasibility study.
"My observation is WRAPS is looking at the beginning of what's causing sediment loading," Chester said. "The City of Hillsboro is looking at an immediate fix."
Any fear of duplication?
"Both programs can work in conjunction with each other," Chester said. "There's no need to create duplication. The two programs need to augment each other."
He confirmed that the City of Hillsboro and others are looking for congressional funding for a feasibility study. Parts of the study would correlate directly with the WRAPS program.
"If funded, both groups would need to sit down and figure out how to work together," Chester said.
The WRAPS program encompasses a larger scope which includes part of McPherson County, Chester said. The Corps funding would pertain only to the reservoir and could include some issues not covered by the WRAPS program.
If Congress approves the funding, the Corps can enact the money.
"We're caught in the middle," he said, "but, if funded, it would be a benefit for all.
