Service to Kansas 2025

Since 1959, our research center has held dual status as a non-regulatory state agency. We work closely with other state agencies and partners in Kansas to address issues that concern Kansans.

Our scientists conduct ongoing assessment of Kansas reservoir and stream conditions; keep records of the state’s vulnerable species and habitats; and carry out a wide variety of research addressing the long-term viability of natural ecosystems and agricultural land. Our Kansas Applied Remote Sensing (KARS) Program develops data-based interactive maps and other planning tools that help farmers, developers, emergency preparedness managers, educators, and other clients and visitors.  

Examples of our 2025 projects are listed below.  

• Aquatic species monitoring post-oil spill: After clean-up of the December 2022 Keystone Pipeline oil spill in Washington, Kansas, Debbie Baker, aquatics researcher, and Ted Harris, associate research professor, were awarded $297,186 by the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks for surveys to assess recovery of the Mill Creek aquatic community. At several sites upstream and downstream of the spill site, the research teams surveyed and documented evidence of various species. They are awaiting the results of fish and mussel tissue analysis for contaminants. The monitoring is ongoing.  
• Assessment of riverside floodplain ponds: Jude Kastens, research professor, was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Kansas Dept. of Agriculture to study inundation characteristics floodplain ponds constructed by the State of Colorado along the Arkansas River. The ponds serve as both irrigation supply and possibly also as an indicators of alluvial recharge activity. Researchers will use satellite data to gain a better understanding of the ponds’ operation in this river that flows into Kansas.  
• Interactive multi-dataset landscape map: Mike Houts, associate researcher, finished the Nested Hexagon Framework and the Landscape Summary Database, an interactive web map and living data catalog funded by the Information Network of Kansas. The project summarizes more than 300 spatial datasets related to the landscape, species locations, management, socio-economic factors, weather and water by a multi-resolution grid. Users can obtain pre-summarized data for a specific location or query the database to identify locations across the state that match custom criteria. While the tool’s interface was developed only for Kansas, the framework grid covers all of North and South America and is free for use by other agencies and organizations. 
• Water Injection Dredging (WID) tests at Tuttle Creek Reservoir: Our researchers played a key role in the experiment, held in September at Tuttle Creek Lake, by sampling sediment in the density current left by the dredging before the sediment flowed out the reservoir gates and downstream. This provided information on how the dredge cleared built-up sediment from the lake bottom. Sedimentation is a major problem in our state’s decades-old reservoirs; WID may be a solution. Tests continue at the reservoir.