Tom Huntzinger, project coordinator for the Upper Wakarusa Watershed Restoration and Protection Survey, explains the way creation of wetlands to control erosion and prevent phosphate runoff from fertilizer keeps river, lake and ground water from contamination at a demonstration project west of Lawrence.

A wetland that has been enhanced by the Upper Wakarusa Watershed Restoration and Protection Survey west of Lawrence helps control erosion and prevent phosphate runoff from fertilizer, keeping river, lake and ground water from contamination.

An Upper Wakarusa Watershed Restoration and Protection Survey demonstration project west of Lawrence, where the creation of special terraces, drainage and wetlands control erosion and prevent phosphate runoff from fertilizer, keeping river, lake and ground water from contamination.

Tom Huntzinger, project coordinator for the Upper Wakarusa Watershed Restoration and Protection Survey, explains the way creation of wetlands to control erosion and prevent phosphate runoff from fertilizer keeps river, lake and ground water from contamination at a demonstration project west of Lawrence.

Near a tributary in western Douglas County, an effort is under way to replicate nature to protect Clinton Lake and the water coming out of Lawrence faucets.

During rains, water runs downhill across farmland, delivering sediment and pollutants into the tributary of Deer Creek, which eventually flows into Clinton Lake.

That reduces the quality of water in Clinton Lake, a drinking source for Lawrence, and reduces the capacity and life span of the reservoir by filling it with sediment.

Now a project, under what is called the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS), is being constructed to address this problem.

The project entails building terraces on the farmland and plunging pipes underground that will deliver rainfall to a man-made wetlands planted with native grasses.

The desired result is that the sedimentation will be caught by the terraces and the pollutants will be absorbed by the wetlands vegetation.

If all goes according to plan, farmers will retain more field to farm through the reduction in erosion, and Clinton Lake will stay cleaner.

“Ecologically, this will be a functioning wetland,” said Tom Huntzinger, the WRAPS coordinator for the Upper Wakarusa Watershed. “There will be a lot of excitement,” he said, once the wetlands grows.

Maintaining a healthy Clinton Lake is important.

Constructed in 1977, Clinton Lake is the most visited of Kansas’ federal reservoirs with about 2 million visits per year, according to a 2007 study. The study also said the lake had a total economic impact in the region of nearly $47 million.

One of the primary problems in maintaining the quality of the water in Clinton Lake is sediment, which washes off from fields, pastures and construction sites.

Another challenge for Clinton Lake is agricultural pollution, the runoff of fertilizers and pesticides into local streams. These nutrients have caused algae blooms that increase water treatment costs.

Dave Wagner, director of utilities for the city of Lawrence, said, “Periodically, we have algae blooms that provide taste and color issues.”

Wagner said any method to prevent runoff is a plus.

“Clinton Lake is a high-quality source for drinking water, but the faster it sediments up, the more difficult it gets to treat that water,” he said.

The problem of reservoirs filling up with sediment is climbing on the radar screen of public officials because the lakes provide drinking water to two-thirds of Kansans.

Huntzinger said he hopes the project currently under way will show landowners and communities ways to work together to solve water quality issues.

The project will cost between $30,000 and $40,000, he said, and involves design work from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and funding from WRAPS and the Douglas County Conservation District.

A landowner’s expense will be about $3,000, he said, but that will be an investment. In return, there will be more area to farm, and an area to set aside for possible federal payments for using native vegetation to stabilize the stream corridor.