I have received many letters from residents who are downstream from the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter site at 159th and Metcalf in Overland Park, KS. They speak about the severe problems already occuring along the Negro Creek waterway. Residents have provided documentation including photos, municipal confirmation of the problems, and excerpts from a mult-year study conducted by Johnson County in concert with the cities of Overland Park and Leawood. This study is just now being wrapped up and recommends millions of dollars in projects to address the problems. [On 1/13 I added the draft Executive Summary from this study.]

This is a summary of the information I have received to date.

Recognition By Authorities Of On-Site Water Issues

The Johnson County South Coalition (JCSC) was the first to bring to the attention of Overland Park that there were water issues on the property. Since this occured so close to the final vote on the issue, the Governing Body chose to move ahead with the project and depend on the Army Corps of Engineers and future technical water studies to resolve the problems.

Here is documentation on this I have published:

• JCSC Letter To Overland Park - Points Out On-Site Water Issue and OP Confirmation Of Issue
• Overland Park Letter - Confirms Procedural Mistake Was Made
• Army Corps Of Engineers Letter to Wal-Mart Attorney - Preliminary determination of need for 404 Permit. Later, Planning Staff announced to City Council that the Corp's preliminary assessment was that an Individual Permit was required.

Downstream Problems

Issues brought up and documented by residents along Negro Creek downstream from the proposed Wal-Mart SuperCenter include silting, erosion, flooding, and pollution. No studies have yet been made of impacts on aquatic wildlife, though of course neighbors are familiar with the usual assortment of frogs, snakes, geese, fish, turtles, ducks, crawdads, etc. who depend on the ponds and streams in the area. One of the attractions of living here is that you and your kids can see this wildlife. An Overland Park resident raises the question of whether all the underground streams in the area should be taken into account. This selection of letters (there were others, also) come from five different neighborhoods in both Leawood and Overland Park.

• City of Leawood Civil Engineer Confirms Erosion Problems

• Dramatic photographs and other documentation of erosion and flooding - The resident who provided this documentation serves on a Flood Committee of The Woods at Ironhorse, one of the Leawood neighborhoods abutting Negro Creek

• Silting Problems
  1. Severe Silting Problem Described From Last Upstream Project - Willowbend, an Overland Park neighborhood, Pays $100,000+ To Clean Up
  2. More Detail On Willowbend Water Damage: City Protected Developer After Poor Pond Construction
  3. More Photos and History of Willobend Flooding/Silting: Neighbor Moved Because Of These Problems

• Recent flood photographs. These were provided by another resident of Leawood showing the first flooding of his backyard, which occured in 2001. Apparently the flooding problem is getting worse:
  1. Backyard under water
  2. Fence under water
  3. Bridges under water
  4. Resident's letter to Corp of Engineers

• Safety, Pollution, and Flooding Downstream From Proposed Wal-Mart This letter to the Corps of Engineers is from an Overland Park resident in a fourth neighborhood downstream from the proposed Wal-Mart

• Resident Near Proposed Wal-Mart: There May Be Underground Streams

Blue River Watershed Study - Executive Summary

The Blue River Watershed Study was commissioned by Johnson County in February, 1999, and is now nearing completion, with public meetings to be scheduled in the next few months. The study includes Negro Creek. Johnson County worked with both Overland Park and Leawood to develop proposals on how to handle the water related problems of Negro Creek and other Blue River waterhsheds. The attached draft Executive Summary estimates that over $10 million would be needed to complete the 4 recommended projects along Negro Creek.

[The copy obtained by NeighborhoodNet was on paper and was converted to digital format using Optical Character Recognition software, then converted to web page format. Hence, there are various formatting errors not contained in the hard copy.]

Further Information

If you have additional information related to the water issue either on the proposed Wal-Mart site itself or downstream from the site, it would be valuable to send a letter to Mr. Doug Berka, douglas.r.berka@usace.army.mil, of the Army Corp Of Engineers, with copies to others involved, including the EPA, cities of Leawood and Overland Park, etc. An email addressed to water@nbrhd.net will automatically be directed to Mr. Berka and these and other agencies. A copy will go to NeighborhoodNet also (I do not publish letters or personal information without the permission of the author).