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EPA Approves $900,000 for Marais des Cygnes Watershed

Release Date: 11/27/2007
Contact Information: Kris Lancaster, (913) 551-7557, lancaster.kris@epa.gov

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Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., Nov. 27, 2007) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will present a $900,000 check to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to improve the health of the Marais des Cygnes Basin.

The basin includes the Marais des Cygnes, Marmaton, and Little Osage rivers, which are vital resources to residents in 13 counties throughout east-central Kansas (Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Coffey, Crawford, Douglas, Franklin, Johnson, Linn, Lyon, Miami, Osage, and Wabaunsee) and four west-central Missouri counties (Barton, Bates, Cass, and Vernon). The basin encompasses 3,230 square miles in Kansas and 453 square miles in Missouri.

EPA initiated the Targeted Watersheds Grant Program in 2002 to encourage successful community-based approaches to protect and restore the nation's watersheds. Watershed health is important for providing clean, safe water where Americans live, work and play. More than $40 million has been provided to 46 watershed organizations since 2003.

WHAT: EPA check presentation

WHEN: Monday, Dec. 3, 2007, 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

WHO: EPA Regional Administrator John Askew; Maj. Michael Fitzgerald, deputy commander, Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Roderick L. Bremby, secretary, Kansas Department of Health and Environment; and Karl Fett, director, Kansas City office of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

WHERE: Shelter 1 next to the marina, Hillsdale Lake, Paola, Kan.

Directions from Kansas City, Mo.: Take I-35 south to Highway 169. Travel south 17 miles to the 255th Street exit. Turn right and travel about four miles, crossing the Hillsdale Lake Dam. Take the first right to Shelter 1. (The Corps Visitors Center is on the east side of the dam.)

(The event will be at the visitors center in the event of inclement weather.)