Newsletter

May 2025

What You'll Find in this Newsletter

Advocacy: Comment by June 2 on the Rattlesnake Creek Watershed Draft Plan-EIS

Conservation: Celebrating Prairie Creek Restoration

Education: Contribute to Community Science

Upcoming Events

Philanthropy Corner: Earth Day Campaign Thank You

Chapter Spotlight: Wichita Audubon Society

Act now! Comment by June 2 to protect Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Kansas and the Big Bend Groundwater Management District #5 (GMD#5), Stafford County, Kansas, are considering three alternatives to restore water to Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) compares the outcomes of multiple scenarios and indicates a “preferred alternative.” NRCS and GMD#5 are seeking feedback on the EIS. This is a critical step for determining what alternative will be approved and enacted.

The EIS Statement gives three options on the project: (1) the “no action alternative” which would stop junior water rights to the Refuge from pumping—this is the status quo under state law if USFWS asked the state to administer its water rights, (2) the “groundwater use reduction alternative” which would curtail water usage over a larger area, but avoid total curtailment from any one water user, and (3) the agency’s “preferred alternative” which involves drilling a wellfield to the south of the Refuge, laying a pipeline, and pumping the water to the north, just upstream from the refuge. The proposed augmentation project would be paired with some smaller cuts to

water by local users.

• The agency’s preferred alternative, the augmentation wellfield, does not meaningfully address the over-pumping issues in the Rattlesnake Creek watershed and will continue the downward spiral of harm to the biological diversity, environmental health, and hydrological functioning of the refuge.
• The wellfield would cost over $60 million, and most of that would be borne by the taxpayers. We have no clear idea who would actually own it, who would operate it, and how the owners would obtain the necessary lands and easements and water rights. 
• The EIS concludes that curtailing over-pumping under the no-action alternative or the groundwater use reduction alternative and letting the Refuge recharge naturally will have the same environmental impact as drilling a new wellfield and artificially filling the Refuge. Not only does that not make sense, it seems to ignore the negative impact to the watersheds they are drilling the new wells in.

ACT NOW! You have until June 2 to submit a comment on the EIS. You can use the talking points above, but we encourage you to add your own story to make a larger impact.

*Are you concerned about water resources for community or the refuge?

*Are you concerned about wasting taxpayer money when there are serious concerns about whether the project can actually be implemented and there are cheaper alternatives available?

*Do you have a background in geology and can attest to the negative impact on both watersheds?

*Do you live in the Gar-Peace Creek and North Fork Ninnescah watersheds, and have concerns about water availability in your area?

The North Fork Ninnescah feeds Cheney Reservoir, which is a source of water for Wichita. PLEASE FORWARD this email to those in the Wichita area including the Gar-Peace Creek and North Fork Ninnescah watersheds and ask them to comment.

For more information and to read the EIS, visit the link below. Note that Scenario 1 is the “no action alternative,” Scenario 2 is the “preferred alternative,” and Scenario 3 is the "groundwater use reduction alternative.”

Photo: a pool without water at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge

Celebrating Prairie Creek Restoration

AOK is celebrating the culmination of a large cedar removal project spanning two years at the Hutton Niobrara Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary in Bassett, Nebraska. The project was first introduced in the November 2023 newsletter to remove cedars along Willow Creek, a spring-fed coldwater creek that harbors two state endangered fish (redbelly and finescale dace). The cedars were shading the banks, killing the native grasses and wildflowers whose complex root systems hold the soil together, and increasing erosion into the creek. The removal of cedars will not only improve the habitat for the state endangered fish, it will also help grassland birds flourish, including Sharp-tailed Grouse and Greater Prairie-Chicken. Grassland birds have declined 53% since 1970 due to habitat loss from woody encroachment and conversion to other uses like agriculture or urban development. Many grassland birds avoid trees due to the prevalence of hawks that roost in their branches or mammalian predators that forage along forest edges. With the cedars removed, this area will now support many more grassland birds and provide an opportunity for birds to safely move across the landscape.

Cedars were removed by cutting them and stacking them on piles. In the February/March 2025 newsletter, photos showing the burning of the piles were featured. With the piles burned, you can now see the impact of our efforts -- large expanse of prairie where trees had previously transected the area and a clean view where the creek meanders through the prairie. We can’t wait to see the wildflowers and grasses come to life, whose seeds were previously prevented from sprouting by the dense shade of the cedars.

Conservation is not quick, but it is lasting!

Special thanks to our partners for their contributions in implementing the project and providing cost-shared funding: Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, and Pheasants Forever.

Contribute to Community Science!

Did you know that your observations could contribute to the conservation of species?

Here are a couple apps that can help scientists document the distributions of wild creatures throughout the state:

eBird

This free app is managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Observers log the birds

they see while the app keeps track of date, location, and time spent observing. The Kansas Natural Heritage Inventory documents breeding sites for a select group of birds that are either rare in the state or of particular conservation concern. Using the breeding code in eBird is a quick and easy way to document breeding activity for these birds.

Find the list of species for which breeding documentation is requested by the Kansas Biological Survey. If you observe breeding behavior for one of these species during your birding trips, pop in the breeding code and add a few notes about what you saw.

Don't use apps? Send your notes by email to Jennifer Delisle.

iNaturalist

For everything that isn’t a bird, iNaturalist is a free app that can be used to

document your observations. Upload photos or sound recordings, and use the AI tool to suggest the identification of things you are not familiar with. Volunteer experts subsequently confirm the identity of your observation (or politely suggest another identification).

AOK’s Executive Director, Jackie Augustine, uses this app and website to document observations on AOK’s Protected Areas and elsewhere throughout the state. She has had three observations contribute significantly to conservation through the app. First, a scientist reached out and asked her to collect unopened milkweed pods for a study examining the hybridization of two milkweed species. Second, she documented the westernmost observation of the Bladetooth Wedge, a type of snail that inhabits decaying wood. Lastly, her observation of an Abbreviated Underwing moth was noticed by the Kansas Natural Heritage Inventory. It is listed as a species in need of conservation in Kansas.

Who knows what you will find that will contribute to science!



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