Watershed

In October 2020, The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), began long‐term in‐stream monitoring downstream from the headwaters of Soldier Creek, a KDHE identified basin with a high probability of large‐scale implementation (more than 50% of area) of soil health best management practices (BPMs) to quantify potential changes in streamflow...

The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (PBPN) in Jackson County, Kansas lies within the Big Soldier and Little Soldier Creek basins. The PBPN needs surface and groundwater quality and quantity data for water management purposes and for developing and implementing a water quality program to protect the water of the reservation for the benefit of current and future generations. In January 2020, The U.S...

The USGS Kansas Water Science Center, in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), has been studying the extreme cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABS) occurring annually in Milford Lake. CyanoHABs on Milford Lake have impacted local businesses economically, and there have been documented human illnesses and animal deaths associated with the blooms...

Johnson County, a suburban part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, is one of the most populated counties in Kansas with 544,000 people in 2010, a 21 percent increase in population since 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Located in northeastern Kansas, about one-half of the county is urban. Urban, industrial, and agricultural land uses affect the quality of streams and lakes in the...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Johnson County Stormwater Management Program has studied sediment transport in Johnson County streams and lakes to better understand how changes from agricultural to urban land use alter sediment in streams and lakes, characterize how these uses may affect lake storage and biological integrity of streams, and evaluate the effectiveness of...