Clinton Lake Sedimentation Earl Lewis Kansas Water Office

History of Clinton Lake  Multipurpose operation - November 30, 1977  Authorized by Flood Control Act of 1962  Water supply storage included at request of State of Kansas under 1958 Water Supply Act - 89,200 AF  U.S. Fish & Wildlife requested storage for low flow augmentation - 21,200 AF

Sediment Allocation  Original 100 year sediment allocation 28,500 AF, or 285 AF/year  Sediment allocation 19,000 AF - conservation pool 19,000 AF - conservation pool 9,500 - flood control pool 9,500 - flood control pool  1991 Corps survey showed 296 Af/yr loss in conservation pool  Virtually no loss in flood pool

Yield Analysis  Water Marketing Act requires that Kansas Water Office be able to deliver water through a drought having a 2% chance of recurrence in any one year  By regulation, defined as a repeat of the drought period

Yield Analysis  Major factors in yield analysis Inflow Inflow Evaporation Evaporation Sedimentation (storage available) Sedimentation (storage available) Downstream senior water right holders Downstream senior water right holders Low flow releases Low flow releases

2004 Yield Analysis

Water Quality  Kansas Biological Survey report that indicates flats developed by siltation causing additional algae blooms and water quality concerns.  During low flow periods decomposition of the algae blooms cause taste and odor problems.

Potential Ways to Deal with Sediment  Reduce sediment load coming into lake  Raise conservation pool level to offset uneven sediment distribution  Dredge sediment in lake

Clinton Lake Watershed

Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy  Developed by a committee of local stakeholders, sponsored by the Kaw Valley Heritage Alliance  City of Lawrence, county conservation districts, the Natural Resources and Conservation Service, K-State Extension, Health and Environment, and the Biological Survey  Recommendations to reduce sediment and associated pollution from both agricultural and urban sources

Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy  Current activity is development of a plan to identify and restore eroding stream banks in the Deer Creek watershed  Stream bank restoration will reduce sedimentation into the lake

Storage Reallocation  State contract with Corps requires storage reallocation if sediment distribution incorrect  Move flood to conservation storage  Reallocation costs approx. $1,000,000  Plus mitigation costs  Currently underway at John Redmond

Kansas Water Authority Lake Restoration Policy  Approved November 2004  Conduct small lake dredging project  Review El Dorado and Oologah studies  Develop predictive model for determining the occurrence and duration of algal blooms  Clean Drinking Water Fee should be used as one funding source for restoration projects

Dredging  South Dakota small lakes program - $5,600/AF  At 296 AF/year loss - $1.66 million/year to keep up

Summary  Clinton Lake conservation pool is silting in 36% faster than anticipated.  Clinton Lake as a whole is silting in only 11 AF/year faster than projected.  Reallocation under the federal contracts will keep design water supply capacity whole through the year 2073.

Summary  First action - reduce sediment load into lake  City of Lawrence should continue and increase WRAPs efforts  Dredging potentially solves both quality and quantity issues  Dredging is more expensive than other alternatives