University staff to visit Redmond Reservoir, Tallgrass Prairie on Mini Wheat State Tour

LAWRENCE — More than 50 University of Kansas staff members will visit the John Redmond Reservoir and Tallgrass Prairie Preserve on Friday, May 30.

The 2014 Mini Wheat State Tour is an initiative of the Unclassified Senate and its professional development committee. Each year, the tour brings together a group of KU staff from across the university to learn about issues and institutions of importance to the state. This year's tour will focus on critical threats to the state’s water supply.

In the morning, the tour group will travel to the John Redmond Reservoir near Burlington. The reservoir is one of the state’s largest and most imperiled bodies of water. The state of Kansas is proposing to dredge the reservoir in order to restore water supply lost to sedimentation.

Researchers at the Kansas Biological Survey will speak to the tour group about the effort to collect sediment core samples. A Westar Energy representative will address the significance of the dredging project for the nearby Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Plant and the region's electrical power supply.

After lunch in Cottonwood Falls, the tour group will visit the nearby Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, the largest protected expanse of native prairie in the state. The Tallgrass Prairie is situated in the upper reaches of the Neosho River watershed, which feeds into the John Redmond Reservoir.

Transportation costs for the event are being paid by the Unclassified Senate. Tour participants are responsible for the cost of their lunches.

2014 Mini Wheat State Tour Itinerary

• 8 a.m.             Depart Lawrence
• 9:15 a.m.        Arrive at John Redmond Reservoir 
• 11 a.m.           Depart for Cottonwood Falls
• 12:30 p.m        Lunch at the Grand Central Hotel, 215 Broadway, Cottonwood Falls.  
• 2:30 p.m.         Depart Cottonwood Falls for Tallgrass Prairie
• 3:30 p.m.         Depart Tallgrass Prairie
• 5 p.m.              Arrive in Lawrence