High water a problem at many Kansas state parks

Washed-up logs littered empty campsites and floodwaters covered some roads as Kimberly Jones checked Fall River State Park on Monday morning. The good news, said Jones, the park’s manager, was that the lake’s flood level had dropped about 5 feet since peaking at about 30 feet above normal last week. The bad news was that it was still about 25 feet above normal.

Several boat ramps were hidden well out in the swollen lake. Several popular boat docks were 100 yards or more from shore. More than half of the park’s popular hiking trails were underwater. As she toured, Jones repeatedly mentioned that one of the park’s busiest weekends was less than two weeks away.

“I have high hopes we’ll be ready for (the Fourth of July weekend). One of the main things we’re going to be needing is gravel for the camping pads. As is, if we get rains over the Fourth a lot of campers are going to” sink into the mud, Jones said. “We’ll have to get a lot of rock, but I’m not sure how we’re going to pay for it.”

About 50 miles away, Seth Turner, El Dorado State Park manager, is happy that about 80 percent of his park wasn’t damaged when the lake was about 4 feet above normal.

However, “We have about 2 1/2 miles of gravel road that’s now going to need to be re-done,” he said. “I could probably use $100,000 or more of gravel. We’ll see.”

Having big recovery problems – and a lack of money – is currently a common theme at many state parks.

Linda Lanterman, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism state park director, said high water is covering many of the state’s most popular parks. Perry Reservoir, for example, was 21 feet above normal recently. Tuttle Creek State Park, home of this weekend’s Country Stampede, expected to draw more than 150,000 people, was 32 feet high. Elk City and Cross Timbers (Toronto Reservoir) State Parks were at or above 20 feet, too.

“It’s not the first time we’ve had to deal with things like this at our state parks,” Lanterman said. “I’m confident we’ll be ready, and do what we need to do to make sure people that come leave with good memories. We always seem to be ready, but it’s going to be tough.”

Cheney State Park, west of Wichita, is one of the few that received no flood damage.

Ever-declining state funding

As they have for many years, Kansas state parks are facing funding problems because legislative support continues to dwindle. Earlier this year Gov. Sam Brownback announced that $500,000 of promised funding for state parks, mostly from lottery money, would be withheld to help with state budget shortfalls.

Still, Lanterman said, parks will get about $2 million from lottery and state road funds this year. It wasn’t that long ago, she said, that parks got about twice as much from Topeka. Meanwhile, things like utility costs have climbed significantly.

But all’s not bad. This fiscal year, which ends Tuesday, should see the parks generate about $7 million from user fees. That’s about $1.2 million more than three years ago. Lanterman partially credits the Park Passport Program, which offers park permits at reduced fees when people annually register their vehicles, for increased permit sales.

Also, about four years ago Brownback used state funds to pay off about $1.6 million in loans to get state park cabins built. Now parks can keep nearly all of the money brought in by renting the popular cabins.

“Those cabins now annually generate about $1 million for us,” Lanterman said. “It’s been crucial that we have that funding.” Lanterman said she’s applying for federal flood damage funds but doesn’t know if the parks qualify.

“In the meantime we’ll do what we normally do when it comes to major maintenance, and that’s make a priority list of what really needs to get done and get started on it,” she said.

She said that because of floods, some parks recently lost $5,000 lift pumps that are critical to sewage lines, and some buildings have sustained damage, too. At El Dorado State Park, Turner said utility poles standing in water will need to be disassembled, cleaned and checked. Many truckloads of driftwood, ranging from twigs to whole trees, will need to be hauled away.

At Fall River, the recovery efforts have been hampered because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had to drastically reduce the lake’s release rates because of already high rivers in Oklahoma. One restroom had interior damage from floodwater. At the Quarry Bay Camp Ground, the boat dock sits more than 100 yards from shore, turned upside down by the high water.

“I’m hoping the water will somehow tip it right side up when it goes down,” Jones said. “I’m not sure how that’s going to work out.”

Increase damage, decreased staff

State park staffing is at, or near, its lowest level in many years because of budget issues. Also, about seven years ago the Legislature closed several Kansas Department of Corrections honor camps, which provided workers to several state parks. That leaves park managers and their few staff members with added duties as they try to recover from flooding.

Lanterman and both managers said it’s imperative the parks be as ready as possible, as soon as possible, because there’s no doubt thousands of Kansans will be wanting to use the parks as soon as they can. The access and camping fees they pay, she said, could go a long ways toward helping to pay for recovery and repair costs.

Monday morning Jones was in the then-closed Fredonia Bay campground when a truck with a giant camper pulled in.

“We left the barricade open a few minutes and they’re already coming in,” she said. “Our people want to support us. As soon as we open a closed area, there are always people there right away. That makes a person feel pretty good.”

This story was originally published June 27, 2015 at 5:46 PM with the headline "High water a problem at many Kansas state parks."