Kansas City sits at the intersection of many rivers — the Missouri River separating downtown from the Northland, the Kansas River in Wyandotte and Johnson counties, and Turkey Creek, the Blue River, Mill Creek and Brush Creek forming a spider web across the bistate area. And this is no accident, said Heather Schmidt, the stormwater program manager in Johnson County. “Whenever anybody develops or settles anywhere, they want to be by the stream,” Schmidt said. “It’s their water source, and it’s their source to get things away. And that’s always been problematic, because they also get flooded out.” Johnson County has a complex watershed — some water feeds into Mill Creek and eventually the Kansas River, and in the east it feeds into the Blue River or Brush Creek and into Missouri. Although the state line represents an important governmental boundary in Kansas City, floodwater does not respect state lines. And when flash flooding occurs, it can create a regional crisis that requires collaboration from cities and counties across both Kansas and Missouri.
Source: Prairie Village Post
