Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy - Sedgwick County, Kansas Conservation District

Sedgwick County > Community Development > Environmental Resources > Conservation District > Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy

Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS)

Sedgwick County is made up of many small watersheds, or basins outlined by the flow of water to a lake or stream. The City of Wichita and Sedgwick County have received funds through the WRAPS program to help residents identify and fix water quality problems in the Lower Arkansas River Watershed.

The Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) is a planning and management framework that engages stakeholders within a particular watershed in a process to:

Identify watershed restoration and protection needs and opportunities
Establish management goals for the watershed community
Create a cost-effective action plan to achieve goals
Implement the action plan

WRAPS represents a shift from "top-down" government intervention in watershed issues, to a more citizen-stakeholder approach, in which funds, guidance and technical assistance are provided for stakeholders to reach consensus on issues of relevance in their watershed, and then design and execute a plan to address those issues.

The following map outlines the boundary of the WRAPS watersheds in Sedgwick County. The green area represents the County WRAPS project area (#17), and the pink area is the outline of the City of Wichita WRAPS project area (#16).

Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy Map

Map created by KDHE, edited by Cherrie Nolden

The City and County are currently in the Development Stage, or #1 above. If you are interested in serving in a leadership role for watershed restoration, please contact the Water Quality Specialist for Sedgwick County, or the City of Wichita Environmental Resources Department, depending on whether you live in the City or County.

More information about the WRAPS process can be obtained at: http://www.kswraps.org/faq