Water
The Blue River is Kansas City’s River — Can Kansas Citians Access it?
The Blue River is Kansas City’s river — but does everyone have equal access to it? There’s only one boat ramp on the entire 40-mile Blue River, and some community members say there could be more done to better connect them with the water flowing through their backyards. Flatland talked with the Heartland Conservation Alliance…
Citizen Scientists in the Midwest Help Experts Gather Environmental Data
A new policy brief from the United Nations argues that citizen science is crucial to global water security. Ground and surface water are facing increasing threats from pollution and climate change, and scientists need help. Citizen science, which is done by non-professional scientists, is part of the solution, according to the report. And it’s happening…
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Reintroduces 40 Alligator Snapping Turtles to Sunflower State
An aura of excitement filled the air near the Neosho River in Kansas on a hot September morning. State wildlife officials gathered around several large, gray bins, snapping photos and eagerly chatting. Why the excitement? Forty, dinner-plate-sized alligator snapping turtles, about to be released into the wild. The last known living alligator snapping turtle collected…
Sheep, Native Plants and Fire Tested as Methods for Managing Invasive Honeysuckle Next to the Blue River
Editor’s Note: Additional information was added into this article to identify the species of bush honeysuckle that impacts Missouri. For information on identifying invasive honeysuckle or other invasive plants, visit the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Website. Something is suffocating Missouri’s forest floors. It’s leafy, it’s dense, it’s pervasive, and it can grow so thick that…
Missouri Business Tests New Net to Catch Invasive Carp Leaping Out of Platte River
A little ripple tears through the muddy water. It’s small. It’s so small, in fact, that coupled with the regular movements of the river, you wouldn’t even notice it – unless you knew what to look for. Within seconds, a silver carp flies out of the water and launches itself several feet into the air….
Farm to Trouble: Could the Mississippi River Benefit from This Strategy to Improve Water Quality?
A Chesapeake Bay program could be a model for the Mississippi River as it deals with runoff that fouls water and contributes to a dead zone off the Gulf Coast.
‘Time for a Reckoning.’ Kansas Farmers Brace for Water Cuts to Save Ogallala Aquifer
After decades of local inaction, Kansas lawmakers are pushing for big changes in irrigation to conserve water and save the Ogallala Aquifer.
Parched in the Panhandle: Town Frets About Water
How Seaboard Foods rebuilt the Oklahoma panhandle’s economy, which ushered in a new era of groundwater depletion from the Ogallala Aquifer.
Kansas and Missouri Brace for Another Year of Drought
Missouri and Kansas remain in drought conditions. Meteorologists and water experts are working to figure out what producers should expect this growing season.
Agriculture Built High Plains Towns. Now, it Might Run Them Dry.
The Ogallala Aquifer, which spans eight states from South Dakota to the Texas Panhandle, is the primary water source for parts of the region. It’s running dry.