In March, Dawn Buehler took the reins as Kansas Riverkeeper from Laura Calwell, who previously held the position for 12 years. Buehler says she tries to get out on the river every week.

With wastewater spills coming from Topeka, waterfront cafe projects in the works and ongoing agricultural drainage issues, Dawn Buehler says, the Kansas River should always be taken into consideration.

Buehler has been a lifelong advocate for river preservation and education, but for the past 10 years she’s worked as an advocate for the Friends of the Kaw. This March, she stepped into the organization’s leading role as Kansas Riverkeeper.

“We’re the ones out on the water, watching,” Buehler said. “It’s my job to be the river’s voice. Every time something happens there needs to be someone saying, ‘Hey, what about the river?’ The river has to have a voice and the communities need to be held accountable.”

The Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, is a public waterway, Buehler said, which means it belongs to everyone.

“A lot of people don’t know that,” she said. “From watermark to watermark, it’s public property. The sandbars are public property — you can use the driftwood for a bonfire. You can fish or camp off the sandbars. You don’t need a reservation, you don’t need a permit, you can just go out and enjoy the sandbars.”

In March, Dawn Buehler took the reins as Kansas Riverkeeper from Laura Calwell, who previously held the position for 12 years. Buehler says she tries to get out on the river every week.

Raised along the river’s banks near De Soto, Buehler was able to camp, boat and fish along the river throughout her childhood. It was then she first developed such a strong fondness for the body of water.

“I used to go and sit on the De Soto River Bridge when it was easier to do that,” she said. “I’d go up and sit on the bridge and watch the sun set right on the Kansas River. It’s one of the most gorgeous sunsets you’ve ever seen.”

But although Buehler grew up with the river in her back yard, it was more difficult for the general public to access the river back then, she said.

“If you owned property of course you had access, that’s how I got on it,” she said. “We used the river a lot, but we had access. Anyone who didn’t couldn’t always get to the river.”

Now, however, the Friends of the Kaw have worked to install nearly 20 public boat ramps up and down the length of the 173-mile-long river, Buehler said. Two more are scheduled for construction in the near future.

“It’s really meant to be a water trail,” she said. “You can start in Junction City (where the river begins) and go all the way down, and there will be a boat ramp every 10 miles.”

In 2012, largely because of the advocacy of the Friends of the Kaw, the Kansas River was officially designated a National River Water Trail.

The organization also plans group floats, Buehler said, each with a different mission.

With the floats, Buehler will take groups of people, familiar faces and strangers alike, up and down the waterway, she said. There, they can help clean litter and debris, keep an eye on the river, and learn about the ecology.

Laura Calwell, who held the Kansas Riverkeeper position for 12 years before Buehler took over, said the group has also worked for years to move sand dredging operations out of the river beds and into pit mines to help conserve the river’s sandbars.

Calwell has since taken over as the group’s education director. She travels to area schools and teaches children about river conservation, water testing and more.

Although Friends of the Kaw have accomplished so much over the years, Calwell said she anticipates the river will face ongoing pollution problems, particularly when it comes to agriculture.

However, it’s a challenge Buehler seems up for, Calwell added.

“I’m really impressed — she’s got great communication skills, she’s very personable, and she’s very passionate about the river,” Calwell said. “I think she’s going to do a fabulous job.”

This fall, Buehler worked with the cities of Eudora and De Soto to organize the first Great Kaw Adventure, said Sara Ritter, executive director of De Soto’s Chamber of Commerce.

Also a De Soto native, Ritter had heard about Buehler’s advocacy efforts, but this was the first time the pair had been able to work together.

“I’ve known of her for quite some time,” Ritter said. “So it was like working with a friend. She was very supportive of the Great Kaw Adventure and obviously has a great passion for the river.”

The event consisted of 15 two-person teams dashing between the two towns. At different points, the teams would canoe, cycle and run, facing challenges along the way, Ritter explained.

The race was meant as an opportunity to teach participants and observers about the river, encouraging them to use it and instructing them in how to care for it, Buehler said.

The groups hope to make the Great Kaw Adventure an annual event, Ritter said. And part of that effort will include Buehler’s expertise.

“She has a lot of knowledge about the river. We leaned on her quite a bit,” Ritter said.

Educational experiences such as classroom visits or the Great Kaw Adventure are of the utmost importance, Buehler said. Because the Kansas River draws its water from such a large portion of the country, the more people who understand the issues, the better.

“The river has a 53,000-square-mile watershed, which includes parts of Nebraska and Colorado,” Buehler explained. “We get water into the Kansas River from a very, very big area. And we need to be aware of what we can do as consumers and individuals about the water quality. We need to be concerned about the things that we put on the ground or down the drain.”

These days, Buehler and her husband live on a small farm south of Eudora. The two raise chickens and grow enough crops for themselves and those close to them. Although the couple doesn’t own land on the river, Buehler says she tries to get onto the water at least once a week. It’s where she feels at home, and it’s a place worth fighting for, she added.

“The only thing that matters in the end is that the Kansas River is healthy, has a good water quality,” she said, “and that we can all use it.”