photo by: Shawn Valverde

Tents are pictured along the Kansas River levee in North Lawrence on Dec. 27, 2023.

Campsites on the Kansas River in Lawrence have damaged the levee slopes and must be removed to protect the integrity of the levee, which is a crucial structure for flood control.

That’s according to the City of Lawrence’s engineering program manager, Kyle Gonterwitz, in reference to why homeless individuals have recently been put on notice to move their tents and belongings off the levee slope near the city-supported homeless camp in North Lawrence.

“From what I have seen the encampments have damaged the levee, so the encroachments must be removed to restore the sod along the levee slopes,” Gonterwitz said in an email.

As the Journal-World reported, the city earlier this week painted a bright orange line along the levee and notified people that all belongings must be moved from the south side of the line by Jan. 8.

Gonterwitz said the Jan. 8 deadline was chosen to “generously allow owners of encroachments ample time to move their belongings.”

Camp New Beginnings, the city-supported site, has been in operation for over a year, and while it is well north of the orange line, tents have sprung up all around its fence, several on the levee slope.

photo by: Chris Conde

A spray-painted orange line runs through campsites on the levee on Dec. 27, 2023, in North Lawrence.

Gonterwitz said the area between the orange line and the levee is required to remain free of “unauthorized encroachments” to protect the levee’s integrity. Maintenance of a sod cover is particularly important, he said.

“To avoid damage to the levee system, the berms must not be disturbed in any way, including removal of soil, and it is critical to maintain sod cover on the levee slopes due to the sand core fill,” said Gonterwitz, citing the federal Flood Control Act of 1936 and its many amendments.

Proper maintenance of the levee also requires the removal of trash from slopes, he said.

“Only grassy vegetation is allowed on the levee, levee berm, or within the right-of-way, which is typically 15 (feet) from the levee toe of the levee or berm. No unapproved encroachments are allowed in this right-of-away,” the notice posted along with the orange line reads.

When asked if campers simply needed to move their tents to the other side of the line to be in compliance with the levee regulations, Gonterwitz said yes.

“The operation and maintenance of the Levee is an exceedingly important undertaking, since any small neglect could easily result in damage to property, loss of (life), and serious impairment of public confidence in the security provided by protective works such as the Lawrence, KS levee system,” he said in the email.

When asked whether there are other areas with encampments near the river that are of concern to the city and from which people could be asked to vacate, Gonterwitz said he wasn’t in a position to answer that question. The Journal-World has reached out to others at the city for a response.

The Kansas River corridor has been a popular environment for unsanctioned homeless camps in Lawrence, which has seen an explosive growth rate in its homeless population — more than four times faster than the national rate in 2023, according to a new federal report.

The City of Lawrence has allowed widespread public camping, with attendant accumulation of trash and what some have called environmental degradation, and it is now the defendant in a lawsuit filed by 24 plaintiffs who contend that the city’s inaction has created a “vagrancy crisis.”