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Kansas Department of Health and Environment

Grant Quarterly Status Report
Submitted
Project Information

Report Date 04/2007 Reporting Period Feb - Apr 2007

Project Name Kansas StreamLink Watershed Stewards Part 2

KDHE Project # 2005-0084

Project Start 11/2006 Project End 12/2008

Project Management

1. Did the Project Management Team meet during this quarter?

Yes
1a. When did they Meet?
01/05/2007 Enter date mm/dd/yyyy
1b. How many attended?
4
1c. How long did the meeting last?
3

2. Summarize any significant project management issues from the quarter?

> The KVHA Board of Directors has primary oversight of the StreamLink
program. Our last board meeting was January 5, 2007. Our next
meeting will be scheduled between May and June of 2007. Budgeting
and staffing was the primary focus of the meeting. Funding constraints
have meant eliminating all paid intern positions.

Christine Boller has made a solid transition into the role of StreamLink
Program Director. (Travis Daneke took a more lucrative position with
KDHE last December; Christine has been a Project Assistant at KVHA
since the fall of 2005.) Alison Reber continues to be involved with grant
administration and program development. Over the last few years we've
invested a significant amount of time strengthening our volunteer pool.
We now have about 10 consistent volunteers helping with events,
partner and program development.

>The planning committee for the Basic Stream Assessment Workshops

met in April. The workshops are scheduled to be held in Wichita (June
21st & 22nd) and Marysville (July 25th & 26th) - both within WRAPS
areas. The City of Wichita is partnering with us to provide the workshop
location and support from Vaughn Weaver, the city's aquatic biologist.
The Marshall County Conservation District is providing assistance with
planning and organizing the July event. Additional input for the
Marysville training is coming from the Konza Chapter of the Oregon-
California Trails Association.
smile

>The planning committee for the Wakarusa Wetlands Program met

several times during this quarter. In collaboration with KVHA and the
Kansas Biological Survey, the Jayhawk Audubon Society (JAS) obtained a
$4,000 grant from the Elizabeth Schultz Environmental Education Fund.
The grant helps cover the costs of providing upper elementary classroom
facilitated field trips at Baker Wetlands. A portion of the grant is for
preparing and mentoring interns to assist with events. The field trip
series is part of a broader concept to increase the publics understanding
of wetland function, restoration, and creation.
smile

>A planning committee has formed for developing a digital walking tour
of a watershed using Hidden Valley Camp for Girl Scouts. Several
preliminary meetings have been held and photo shoots were done
during the early spring. K-State Forestry is providing technical support
for riparian zone content; the City of Lawrence is providing technical
support for stormwater impact content. The tour focuses on different
plant communities in a watershed including native grasses, woodlands,
and wetlands. Upstream landuse impacts on the evolution of stream
morphology and habitat restoration will also be part of the tour.

>A planning meeting for future collaborations was held with the
University of Kansas' Environmental Studies & Geography Departments
Chair, Dr. Bill Wood, Haskell University Sequoah GIS Lab Manager, John
Koestlenick, Kansas Biological Survey Aquatic Ecologist, Paul Liechti,
Education Technology Doctoral Candidate, Dana Atwood-Blaine, and
Information Systems Specialist, Bob Burkhart. Discussion centered on
potential watershed mapping and other hands-on information gathering
learning projects.
I&E

1. What Number of Notification Tools were used this

quarter? 20

Notification Tool When Used # Contacted

(mm/dd/yyyy)
Brochures/pamphlets 02/20/2007 5
E-mail 03/03/2007 15
Conference 03/15/2007 15
E-mail 02/01/2007 350
List Serve 02/01/2007 70
News Story 02/20/2007
Sign 02/23/2007 10
One-on-one Contact 03/30/2007 10
Exhibit 04/17/2007 100
Exhibit 04/21/2007 600
Sign 04/07/2007 10
Exhibit 04/11/2007 150
Exhibit 04/13/2007 100
Brochures/pamphlets 04/17/2007 25
Poster 04/17/2007 50
Exhibit 04/20/2007 100
Exhibit 04/21/2007 600
Brochures/pamphlets 04/21/2007 75
Newsletter 04/21/2007 20
Newsletter 03/15/2007 150

2. How many Educational Materials were Produced

this quarter? 12

Educational Material # Produced # Distributed Date Distributed

(mm/dd/yyyy)
Poster 10 10 02/23/2007
Newsletter 15 15 03/03/2007
Exhibit Display 1 1 04/11/2007
Exhibit Display 1 1 04/13/2007
Exhibit Display 1 1 04/17/2007
Exhibit Display 1 1 04/20/2007
Exhibit Display 1 1 04/20/2007
Poster 10 10 04/07/2007
Poster 25 25 03/30/2007
Web Site 2 500 03/15/2007
Web Site 4 650 03/15/2007
Web Site 3 3561 03/15/2007

3. How many Educational Events took place this

quarter? 18

Educational Event Event Date # Attendees

(mm/dd/yyyy)
Water Sampling 02/01/2007 2
Water Sampling 02/08/2007 2
Water Sampling 02/22/2008 2
Tour/Field Day 02/21/2007 2
Focus Group 02/06/2007 4
Press Release 02/20/2007 2
Water Festival 04/13/2007 100
Focus Group 02/23/2007 4
Focus Group 03/02/2007 4
Workshop 03/03/2007 15
Conference 03/15/2007 200
Water Sampling 03/08/2007 2
Water Sampling 03/29/2007 2
Workshop 04/07/2007 6
Water Festival 04/11/2007 150

2. Summarize the I/E activities from the quarter

>In January StreamLink began working with a student intern from
Haskell Indian Nations University. Jason Koontz is a Senior in the
Ecology Program. He will be field testing the volunteer stormwater
monitoring protocols we've been developing in collaboration with the
City of Lawrence. Mr. Koontz will be monitoring stormwater runoff
coming off of a major through-fare, water exiting a newly created
stormwater detention wetland, and water exiting an established wetland.
He has been accumulating his data and submitting it to StreamLink and
the City of Lawrence regularly. Mr. Koontz also represented StreamLink
at the Water and the Future of Kansas Conference in March.

><a class="newlink" href="/StreamLink.html">StreamLink</a> has

established a relationship with the Kansas Trails Council. KTC works on a
variety of trail systems statewide. KTC, along with the Corps of
Engineers, the John Dewey Learning Academy, the Lawrence Dog Park
Community, and the City of Lawrence Parks and Rec, have partnered
with us on several projects in the Clinton Lake area. We anticipate
completing a half-mile stretch of trail at the Coon Creek area. The trail
will help facilitate continued community involvement with the Coon
Creek wetland restoration. Additional streambank tree plantings are
planned. (*A photo storyboard of the Coon Creek restoration project has
been created and archived online at Bubbleshare.com. Several hundred
people have viewed the presentation. *We have met several times with
a KSU graduate student working on an auto tour of the Wakarusa
watershed. Our hope is to have the area included as a stop in the tour.
Access to the site highlights the breadth of ecosystems from bluff to
bluff of a stream channel. Additionally visitors will be able to watch the
wetland go through the stages of restoration.)

A second trail-building project is underway along a stretch of the

Wakarusa River east of Clinton Lake. This area is heavily used by a
variety of interests including fishermen, picnickers, whitewater rafters,
and dog owners. Over time surge waters have undercut portions of the
riverbank and amplified tensions as dog owners either chose the
precarious highroad or the river. The latter puts the dogs at risk for
fishhook injury, aggravates fishermen and picnickers. The alternate trails
will also help prevent further riverbank damage by safely diverting
stormwaters. We are very excited and encouraged by the grassroots
cooperation these diverse groups have demonstrated in order to
alleviate tensions among river users.

>We continue to recruit volunteer interns through the University of

Kansas, the Roger Hill Volunteer Center, and the general public. In
February we held an open house for volunteers to meet each other, talk
about the KVHA/SL projects they're involved with, and plan out how to
coordinate endeavors. E-bulletins have been going out and several
different web applications for group planning have been trialed.
Knowledge management has been one of our biggest challenges with
having a sustainable volunteer program. Volunteers will be able to
conduct record searches and sorts, add and update contact information,
and collaborate on event management. SalesForce donated a 10-user
license for the non-profit version of their web-based customer
relationship management application. Unfortunately we were not able to
roll our (highly-customized) database into SalesForce without significant
preparation and programming. When the system was introduced to
volunteers for fresh data entry, it turned out to require more training
than was feasible.

We are now trialling a beta-version web-based relational database

application called Zoho Creator. It is similar to Microsoft Access but can
be simultaneously accessed remotely and does not require specific
software. Although the layout and coding are a bit clunky, the whole
 system is less complicated than Microsoft Access and real-time
information can be embedded in websites. Programming for the custom
fields has been fairly straightforward. Part of what volunteers have done
this quarter is recruiting other volunteers to help with specific events.
We'll reevaluate the usability of the interface design after the spring
rush.

BMP Implementation

1. Enter Information for each BMP implemented this quarter

Cooperator HUC 14 BMP Qty Unit Head

Impacted
Linear
City of Lawrence 10270104 Recreation Trail/Walkway - 568 500
Foot
Hidden Valley Camp for Girl
10270104 Erosion Control Blanket - 011 10 Acre
Scouts
Hidden Valley Camp for Girl Streambank and Shoreline
10270104 10 Acre
Scouts Protection - 580
John Dewey Learning Linear
10270104010070 Recreation Trail/Walkway - 568 500
Academy Foot
Streambank and Shoreline Linear
Kansas StreamLink 10270104010070 100
Protection - 580 Foot
Kansas Trails Council 10270104010070 Recreation Area Improvement - 562 20 Acre
KVHA 10270104010070 Recreation Area Improvement - 562 20 Acre

2. Summarize BMP activities from this quarter

Hidden Vally Camp - buffer replacement; habitat restoration
Kansas Trails Council - mountain bike trail development; prevents
streambank damage in lands adjacent to Clinton Lake
City of Lawrence - streambank trail enhancement for stormwater
protection along Wakarusa River
KVHA - post-burn cleanup
Kansas StreamLink, et al - tree planting
John Dewey Learning Academy, et al - trail development

Other
Mudscapes will be conducted in targeted areas. Please specifiy these targeted areas

and the approximate number of mudscape activities conducted in the grant period.

Describe accomplishments to date

Mudscapes is just finishing a busy April, with many Earth Day
celebrations. We were invited to take part in the following festivals;
Franklin County (150 students), Hillsdale(100),Wabaunsee Co (not
attended due to sickness)and Dickinson County (100 students).
Normally, we would have attended more festivals, but had to turn
down a few festivals due to staffing constraints and calendar
conflicts. Thankfully, there have been volunteers to lend a hand.
We are also prioritizing WRAPS areas for our Mudscapes events.
Additionally, we are requesting funds (through StreamLink
membership) to help curtail travel expenses. The popularity of
Mudscapes among festival coordinators, teachers and students is
high. Fortunately, most understand that it is a labor intensive activity
that requires a lot of gas and extra hands to stage.

*Additional events not listed: Water Festival, 4/20/07, 100 students,

Water Festival, 600 attendees, and Stream Cleanup, 4/28/07, 100
attendees.

Please describe in detail how KVHA has addressed historical grant funding gaps.

Describe accomplishments to date

Partner and program development continue to stengthen our ability
to procur alternative grant funding. We are following up on leads
with the National Park Service,the Kan-Ed Network, the Kansas
Humanities Council, and other grantors. Donation and membership
growth have been steady. Catfish Cookies was released in March
and has been generating sales revenue.

A condition of this grant will be that affidavits and status reports will be submitted on

a quarterly basis via the Kansas Clean Water System.

Describe accomplishments to date

We believe that providing a more robust detailing of StreamLink
planning and progress will clarify the activity level of KVHA staff
members. In addition to providing information through this reporting
system, we will be publishing our reports and archiving our activities
through web-based repositories such as Flickr, Scribd, and
Slideshare. The information will be accessible through search
engines as well as directly from the StreamLink website.