Ron Graber
Extension Watershed Specialist, Central KS
Little Arkansas River WRAPS Coordinator
rgraber@ksu.edu

The Little Arkansas River Watershed is located in south central Kansas, covering 913,430 acres in Reno, Harvey, Sedgwick, McPherson, Rice, Marion and Ellsworth counties. The headwaters of the Little Arkansas River originate near the town of Geneseo, and the river travels southeast approximately 80 miles, draining numerous tributaries before emptying into the Arkansas River at Wichita. Cropland (68%) and grassland (21%) make up the majority of our watershed and contribute non-point source pollutants to our river and water supply.
We publish a printable newsletter throughout the year, highlighting important information and projects within the Little Ark watershed. Learn more about incentive opportunities, upcoming meetings and workshops, and even articles about what your neighbors are doing to support positive water stewardship on their land! Feel free to contact us if you'd like to join the mailing list.
Our watershed faces challenges to our water quality and soil health, and we are constantly working to innovate solutions to benefit us all. From the most rural areas to large-scale urban developments, we know that our choices can affect our watershed in its entirety. That's why we embrace tried-and-true best management practices as well as the newest types of technologies to improve water quality and conservation efforts.
Most recently, we've been working with producers to decrease atrazine pollution in our waterways, and we're making a significant impact. We also developed a unique rural-urban partnership that allows urban producers to avoid costly and, frankly, less effective sediment-reducing technology while incentivizing producers upstream to implement best management practices that prevent tons of sediment from entering our waterways. This video below will give you a great overview. Want to learn more? You can contact us to join our mailing list, or just ask questions!
These projects are funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under assistance agreement to KCARE. The contents of these pages do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the EPA, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement of recommendation for use.
Ron Graber
Extension Watershed Specialist, Central KS
Little Arkansas River WRAPS Coordinator
rgraber@ksu.edu