Today's and Monday's report on water in Douglas County grew from a partnership between the Kansas University William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, the Journal-World, 6News, World Online and WaterLINK, a service learning project funded by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment through the Environmental Protection Agency.
A class of seven KU journalism students spent this summer working on an in-depth, multimedia reporting project examining water quality issues in the Wakarusa River watershed. The watershed feeds Clinton Reservoir, a major source of water, flood control and recreation for the city of Lawrence and surrounding communities.
Professor Richard Musser, a Kemper Teaching Fellow whose students have won numerous national awards for their reporting and writing, taught the class. Funding from WaterLINK made it possible for KU to schedule this limited enrollment, specialized course.
The two-day series of stories tell a tale that is both reassuring and cautionary. Douglas County is lucky to have a resource such as Clinton Lake; one that should serve into the middle of this century. At the same time, however, if citizens and community leaders fail to be good stewards of that resource, we could all face a drier and less healthy future.
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