A bill that has to do with water-related issues is going through
the Kansas legislature. Numbered SB 43, it is being introduced
by the joint committee on energy and environmental policy. It
has to do with bank stabilizations and sediment issues. The bill
states "the Kansas water office shall prepare a comprehensive
plan to increase water storage in Kansas reservoirs through
dredging that will begin with John Redmond reservoir." It will
employ stream bank stabilization and other methods to reduce
sedimentation in watersheds above water supply reservoirs and
also assure future water storage in Kansas reservoirs; and
finance each improvement project. "John Redmond has lost nearly
40 percent of its original capacity to sedimentation and today,
only 43 percent of the remaining capacity contains water," Susan
Metzge of the Kansas Water Office testified during committee
hearings. "As a result, we currently have access to only 25
percent of the reservoir’s storage potential. While John Redmond
is our current highest