Water officials are exploring ways of promoting residential and commercial developments near some of the state's federal reservoirs, including Clinton and Perry in northeast Kansas.
"We want to see what we can do to create more economic development opportunity around the reservoirs," said Tracy Streeter, director of the Kansas Water Office. "And we want to do it in a responsible manner."
The water office is in the early stages of putting together a report for the Kansas Water Authority in time for the authority's annual recommendations in June 2005.
The authority's recommendations are subject to legislative approval.
"At this point, we're taking a look at what we have and what we can do to maximize our potential," Streeter said. "We're just getting started."
Other state agencies participating in the review include the departments of commerce, health and environment, and wildlife and parks. Plans call for including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and federal Bureau of Reclamation in the discussion.
Lakefronts desirable
The review is an outgrowth of an unsuccessful effort by developers who last year proposed building a reservoir south of Wichita to compete with Grand Lake in Oklahoma.
Though the water authority rejected the proposal on grounds that its costs would outweigh its benefits, Streeter said the unmet demand for in-state lakefront property was undeniable.
Kansas Water Office: Economic Development Opportunities at Lakes and Reservoirs (.pdf)"It screamed out at us," he said. "The developers were right on track about that."
Each year, a significant number of retirement-age Kansans leave the state in pursuit of homes on or near water, said Joe Harkins, director of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' Office of Natural Resource Policy and a former Kansas Water Officer director.
"When you look at all the people in Wichita or Kansas City who have homes at either Grand Lake or Lake of the Ozarks, it's pretty clear that we're not as competitive as we should be," Harkins said.
Neither the Kansas Water Authority nor the governor's office is interested in allowing projects that would harm the reservoirs' aesthetics or threaten their water quality, he said.
"Whatever is proposed will have to pass a rigid environmental standard," Harkins said. "These are primary water supplies and cannot be compromised."
Neither Harkins nor Streeter would predict what's likely to be proposed. "I don't think anybody knows yet," Harkins said.
Both, however, said there might be situations where building a road or adding access points could spur development. "There might be a situation where, as it is now, a piece of private property may be a mile from a reservoir but seven miles from a boat launch," Streeter said. "Well, what would happen if a few access points were added? These are the kinds of things we're going to look at."
Harkins said the review would focus on the state's 26 federal reservoirs because they are the best equipped and most are bordered by state park properties.
Review welcomed
Because most of the reservoirs are designed for flood control, there's little interest in encouraging development on the reservoirs themselves. "That wouldn't make much sense since, at some point, the property is going to be under water," Streeter said.
But housing or commercial developments -- a hotel or small convention facility, for example -- with views of a reservoir are worthy of consideration, Harkins said.
Plans to build a 150-room hotel and conference center on the shores of Clinton Lake fizzled in 2001 after the Lawrence City Commission balked at subsidizing water and sewer services.
Harkins and Streeter said they didn't know how the review would affect the long-stalled project. Efforts to reach a spokesman for the project's developer were unsuccessful last week.
Lee Kennedy, manager at the Clinton Marina, said he doubted the proposed hotel and conference center would ever get off the drawing board.
"The biggest problem is the sewer system -- that's always the thing out here," he said. "The closest hookup is five miles away. There not much you can do about that."
But Kennedy welcomed news of the review. "They've got to do something," he said. "We're getting more and more people out here every year because of all the growth going in this part of the state. But they aren't building any more reservoirs, so where are people going to go?"
Kennedy said both the marina's 385 outdoor docks and indoor boat storage facilities were full.
"Business is good," he said. "We've got a waiting list."
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