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Missouri River Basin

The Missouri River Basin covers some 1,600 square miles in the northeastern  corner of Kansas including Hydrologic Unit Codes 10240007, 10240008, 10240005 and 10240011.  This represents a small fraction of the entire Missouri River watershed which covers all or part of ten states and extends into Canada.  The basin covers all or part of Marshall, Nemaha, Brown, Doniphan, Atchison, Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and is the smallest of the 12 major basins in the state, accounting for about two percent of the total land area.

Map MO BAC Membership 

No. Member Name Representative
Category		 Term
Expires
1. Chair - Julian Geiger, Robinson, KS Conservation/Environment (CC) 6/30/2013
2. Vice Chair - Jeffery Grossenbacher, Bern, KS Agriculture (CC) 6/30/2013
3. Richard Moppin, Leavenworth, KS At Large Public (CC) 6/30/2015
4. Carol Hughes, Seneca, KS Education (BSC) 6/30/2013
5. George Jorgensen, Troy, KS Fish and Wildlife (CC) 6/30/2013
6. John Bishop, Atchison, KS Recreation (CC) 6/30/2015
7. Carl Johnson, Leavenworth, KS Water Quality (BSC) 6/30/2015
8. Vacant At Large Public 2 (BSC) 6/30/2013
9. Neil Coufal, Troy, KS At Large Public 1 (BSC) 6/30/2015
10. Vacant Municipal Public Water Supply (CC) 6/30/2015
11. Robert Halling, Bendena, KS Industry/Commerce (CC) 6/30/2013

u Missouri Basin Advisory Committee Membership Application pdf image

Information Sheet - Attending a KWA Meeting as a Representative of your BAC

Missouri BAC Member Update - Richard Moppin, Water Quality Member

I have been interested in water and water quality since the late sixties as a deckhand on a sand dredge on the Missouri River, as a public health sanitarian dealing with water quality issues and as a Missouri River Basin Advisory Committee member since 2004.

Our area is unique in Kansas by having adequate annual precipitation and access to one of America’s greatest rivers. Our responsibility to ourselves and following generations is to protect one of our greatest natural assets. Carefully considered water policies and cooperation among all those concerned with this great river system will ensure we all continue to reap the many benefits of this system.

No single interest can dictate how this resource is managed and used. The Missouri River and its tributaries (in Kansas and other states) belong to all and if not properly shared and managed by all concerned, we all may lose this resource so necessary to all of us. - Richard Moppin

Current Projects in the Missouri Basin

  • Missouri River Recovery Project - The Benedictine Bottoms Wildlife Area, the Ellwood Bottoms and the Dalbey Bottoms, are part of the Missouri River Recovery Project. The lands were acquired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to mitigate the loss of fish and wildlife habitat caused by construction and maintenance of a Missouri River navigation channel.  At Dalbey Bottoms, the project involves planting native vegetation, restoration of wetlands excavation of the three chutes off the Missouri River and lengthening the Walnut Creek channel to increase habitat for fish and wildlife. Construction was delayed the summer of 2010 due to flooding and high water tables.

  • Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study (MRAPS) - A broad-based, congressionally authorized study to review the project purposes established by the Flood Control Act of 1944. The Study will analyze the eight authorized purposes in view of the current Basin values and priority to determine if changes to the existing purposes and existing Federal water resource infrastructure may be warranted.  The eight authorized purposes include: Flood Control, Irrigation, Water Supply, Recreation, Navigation, Hydropower, Water Quality, Fish and Wildlife. The U.S. Army Corps of engineers (Corps) is working collaboratively on the Study with Tribes, Federal and State agencies, and other Stakeholders within the Missouri River Basin and along the Mississippi River. www.mraps.org

  • Missouri River Degradation Feasibility Study - Work continues on securing local funding for the study to be conducted by the Mid-America Regional Council. The agreement with the Corps is expected to be signed this fall.

Past Meetings & Materials

  •  March 30, 2012 - MO BAC Meeting, 9:00 am, Morrill Public Library, 431 Oregon Street, Hiawatha, KS - Meeting Materials
  • January 25-26, 2012 - KWA, Topeka
  • November 3-4, 2011 - KWA, Lawrence 
  • October 7, 2011 - POSTPONED - Missouri Basin Advisory Committee Meeting, 9:00 a.m., First Baptist Church, 210 N. main Street, Troy, KS - Meeting Materials
  • August 11-12, 2011 - KWA, Lyons
  • June 13, 2011 - MO BAC Meeting, 9:00 a.m., Atchison Santa Fe Depot Visitor Center & Museum, 200 S. 10th Street, Atchison, KS -  Meeting Materials 
  • March 10, 2011 - Missouri BAC Meeting, 9:30 a.m., Morrill Free Library, Hiawatha, KS - Meeting Materials

Questions? Contact Margaret.Fast@kwo.ks.gov - KWO Missouri Basin Planner - Margaret is an Environmental Scientist and Manager of public water supply programs at the Kansas Water office. She has worked for the agency for over 25 years. She has been involved in a wide range of state water planning and management activities.