Rain to Recreation monitors stormwater quality in Lenexa for the long-term health and sustainability of streams, and measures the effectiveness of the city’s green infrastructure.

Coon Creek and Mize Lake
A five-year project was completed in 2007 for the Coon Creek watershed that monitored water quality as the watershed urbanized and Lake Lenexa was constructed. Monitoring results indicated that phosphorus, bacteria and chlorides (from road salts) are the predominant pollutants. Future studies will focus on identifying specific sources for nutrients and bacteria.

Rain to Recreation is also working with several universities to monitor green infrastructure at Mize Lake. University of Kansas staff have been monitoring the bioretention cells that treat street runoff along the west side of the lake, and Kansas State University staff have been monitoring the wetlands along the east and south sides of the lake for two years. Preliminary results indicate that these wetlands are effective at removing sediment and nutrients, protecting the health and sustainability of the lake.

Biological monitoring
There are bugs in the creek, which is a good thing.

Macroinvertebrates, aquatic insects and things like crayfish and clams, spend the majority of their lives in water and are significantly affected by changes in the water. Some species are more tolerant to pollution than others, so biological monitoring can be used to assess the pollution in our streams.

In 2007, Lenexa initiated a biological monitoring program to assess the health of our streams over time. Each spring and fall, Rain to Recreation staff takes to the streams with nets, buckets, and jars to conduct biological monitoring at 15 locations across the city. View Lenexa’s most recent biological monitoring report.

Interested in helping out? Anyone can grab a group of friends and form a stream team to participate in monitoring and other stream stewardship activities.

For more information
Contact Mandy Stark, marketing and outreach specialist.