Following an act of Congress, the 60-year-old flood-control project credited for literally saving the city of Wichita is renamed for the man credited for its creation.
Rep. Ron Estes and Sen. Jerry Moran visited Wichita Wednesday to take part in the ceremony recognizing the official renaming of the Wichita-Valley Center Floodway — known locally as “The Big Ditch — to the MS Mitch Mitchell Floodway.
The project, completed in 1959, diverts water from Chisholm Creek, the Little Arkansas River, and the Arkansas River around the heart of Wichita and empties the water back into the river downstream of the city.
Estes discussed a few of the floods that nearly devastated Wichita before Mitchell pushed for the long-term solution.
(Read more: KWCH News)