Reservoirs

Kansas has 93 reservoirs that supply drinking water for about 60 percent of the state's population. Major ones such as John Redmond, Perry and Tuttle Creek have lost from 23 percent to 30 percent of their water capacity because of silting.

"Fifty years ago, people thought ahead to build these lakes; now we have to do something to keep them up," said Edward Martinko, director of the Kansas Biological Survey.

"This is potentially a huge problem that is going to confront the state in the next 20 to 40 years," Martinko said.

The storage capacity of Clinton Lake has declined only 6 percent because of sedimentation - still a faster rate than expected - while Mission Lake near Horton has so much silt that it can't be used as a public water supply.

"The bottom line is that the situation with respect to Clinton is that it has been sedimenting in faster than has been anticipated. The original life expectancy was 100 years, and now it is projected at only 70 years," Martinko said.

Lakes require maintenance "just like we fix old streets and sewer lines," said Tracy Streeter, executive director of the Kansas Water Office.

Horton residents, who now must use wells, have approved $4 million in bonds to dredge their lake, which was built in the 1930s.

Horton Mayor Dale White said the city would like to be part of a pilot project on rehabilitating lakes proposed by the Kansas Water Office. The office is seeking legislative approval to use $400,000 to conduct the project.

But the costs of rehabilitating lakes could be significant.

For example, an estimated 3 million cubic yards of silt fills in Lake Perry every year, and dredging would cost about $15 million a year to keep up.

"It's important for us to start doing pilot project studies to deal with some of these issues and look for the most cost-effective method," Martinko said.