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City of Lake Lotawana

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            Watershed Consortium Receives $1500 Grant

The West Branch Sni-A-Bar Creek Watershed Consortium was recently awarded a $1500 grant from the Mid-America Regional Council.  The consortium was one of seven recipients for the 2009 Water Quality Education Committee Grant Cycle. 

The City of Lake Lotawana and the Lake Lotawana Association are members of the consortium along with the cities of Grain Valley, Blue Springs, the Carriage Oaks Homeowners Association, and Jackson County.  The Missouri Department of Conservation, MARC, and the Blue River Watershed Association all provide assistance and expertise.  Individuals who live in the watershed are also welcome to join the consortium.
 
The communities within the West Branch Sni-A-Bar Creek watershed formed the consortium in June 2008, to conserve and protect the natural and aquatic resources of this stream system that forms in the rural areas in the City of Lake Lotawana and flows northeast to Grain Valley and eventually the Missouri River.  The West Branch Sni-A-Bar Creek drains all of the incorporated area of the City of Lake Lotawana in the southwest portion of the watershed, as well as southern portions of Blue Springs and un-incorporated areas of Jackson County.

The $1500 grant will be used to print a brochure and to sponsor two education projects.  The first project will be held at the Water Fest at the Lake Lotawana Association Community Picnic on June 6, and the second will be a Water Fest at Grain Valley in the fall.  The Water Fest will explain the watershed and bring exhibitors with tips on preserving water quality. 

This grant is the second notable event for the newly created consortium.  The first was funded by the City of Blue Springs. That project will convert the Carriage Oaks pond to absorb runoff so as to reduce and filter the pond’s eventual runoff to Lake Lotawana.  The project is estimated to take approximately two to three years to complete. Blue Springs funded this first stage of wetlands development in conjunction with the planned reconstruction of the 7 Highway and Colbern Road intersection.

The West Branch Sni-A-Bar Creek Watershed Consortium has begun the process of developing programs to facilitate the creation of a watershed management plan, education and outreach programs, stream monitoring, and developing best management practices for water quality protection in the watershed.
 

                       Lake Lotawana Garden Cruise

June 13, 2009 (rain date June 14, 2009)
10:00 AM to 4:00 PM Cost $10

Please meet at the Lake Lotawana Community Club inside Gate One (off Colbern Road). You will be directed to the float boats which will deliver you to each of the beautiful gardens. There will be a sack lunch available at the cost of $10 which includes lunch, drink, and delicious home-made desserts.

If you have any questions please contact Becky Quesenberry at 816-304-7232 or
becky@ssi-kc.net .

Animal Control Coverage

As one of many collaborative efforts the city has undertaken, a recently completed agreement with the City of Blue Springs will enable animal control services for residents to be continued during Officer Jeffrey’s extended absence as he attends the Police Academy and in spite of budgetary constraints.

If a resident has an animal control issue, they should call the Lotawana Police number 816.578.4333 as usual.  The initial response will most likely be by a police officer, with the Blue Springs animal control services limited mostly to transporting animals, either to the vet or a shelter, depending on circumstances.

As is the case now, the city will not trap wildlife or other animals, but has cages available for residents who request them.

Officer Jeffrey will be available in the evenings and on weekends as he has currently been.

Animal Control is the first of a number of services in which the city will be collaborating with other organizations to endeavor to provide the professionalism and responsiveness residents expect in spite of staffing and financial challenges.

A New Life For An Old Watershed

In this great Midwest, back in the good old days, Indian tribes and European settlers enjoyed a natural landscape of sweeping prairies, hardwood forests and beneficial wetlands.  Everyone, native and settler, worked hard to eke out a daily existence against the forces of Mother Nature.  As Jackson County, Missouri grew from the stepping off point to the far west, this area has become a major center of commerce, housing and transportation. Its urban development reaches ever outward, reducing the size of the forests and wetlands natural presence.  It has been and always will be a story about the land and water that are called watersheds.  We all live in a watershed.

Normally local governmental bodies manage watersheds.  However, eastern Jackson County has never had local protective management from the adverse results of growing urbanization – until now.  On June 17, 2008, the West Branch Sni-A-Bar Creek Watershed Consortium had its first organized meeting.  The communities of Lake Lotawana, Grain Valley and Blue Springs plus representatives from the Lake Lotawana Association and the Carriage Oaks Homeowners Association along with Jackson County, the Missouri Department of Conservation and MARC formed a nonprofit group dedicated to promote and improve the sustainability, conservation, protection and cooperative management of the cultural and natural resources within the West Branch Sni-A-Bar Creek Watershed. 

What is a watershed and why is it important?  A watershed is an area of land that drains to a common body of water, such as a nearby creek, stream, river or lake.  Watersheds cross city, county and state lines.  When different communities share a watershed, the residents of all the cities and counties affected need to address issues like flooding and water quality together.  The goal of watershed management is to plan and work toward an environmentally and economically healthy watershed that benefits all who live in it.

The water in the West Branch Sni-A-Bar Creek Watershed flows from eastern Jackson County farmland and the southern reaches of Blue Springs into Lake Lotawana and then onward to Grain Valley.  The members have pledged mutual assistance and support to begin a formal planning process that will identify conservation problems and sponsor applications to the EPA for grants for possible solutions.  The consortium has already negotiated with Blue Springs the funding for the first stage of wetlands development that will be included in the upcoming reconstruction of the 7 Highway and Colbern Road intersection.  This effort is intended to reduce the silt that strangles the Carriage Oaks holding basin.

The Consortium officers include; President Jeff Fisher, Director of Public Works in Grain Valley, Vice President Carol Thompson, Manager Lake Lotawana Association, City Administrator in Lake Lotawana and Secretary Hank Jolly, President Carriage Oaks Homeowners Association. Blue Springs is represented by Oliver DeGrate and Jackson County by Tom Krahenbuhl. Consulting members include: Wendy Sangster, MO Dept of Conservation; Ginny Moore, MARC and Ted Hartsig of Olsson Associates.
 

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