A new stormwater management program that will see the county divided into six watersheds is being implemented by Johnson County.
In a presentation to Edgerton City Council March 28, Lee Kellenberger, Johnson County water resource manager, said unlike in the past when county dollars for stormwater systems improvements would be distributed to individual cities and townships, the new program will be based on a plan that targets particular watersheds.
The six watersheds are: Brush/Turkey Creek, Indian Creek, Upper Blue Valley, Marais Des Cygnes River, Captain/Kill creek and Cedar/ Mill creek.
Edgerton, Gardner and Spring Hill will all be within the Marais Des Cygnes River watershed.
“In the past cities and communities would do projects individually with the county. Now you band together with other jurisdictions within the watershed,” he said.
The county’s watershed management program was started in 1990 after the Kansas Legislature enabled counties to adopt 1/10th of one percent sales tax to fund stormwater projects. Johnson County is the only county in the state that has established a stormwater management program under the guidelines and more than $300 million have been disbursed.
(Read more: Gardner News)