Wakarusa River Valley Vision and Area Plan

Innovative open space planning uses vulnerability analysis to inform management strategies that support natural systems and preserve their ability to adapt to urban pressures and changing climate conditions.

The Wakarusa River corridor is a rich natural and cultural landscape in Douglas County, Kansas. As the City of Lawrence just to the north of the river grows, significant development pressure is being felt on Douglas County lands in the river valley. To build consensus around a positive, inspiring future for the Wakarusa River and its watershed, this project created a vision plan for land, water, and community. The Plan includes the hydrology and ecology of the landscape, the uses and aspirations of the community members who interact with it, and the opportunity to unite and heal communication and land use planning.

Biohabitats’ approach applied a holistic look at the river corridor’s hydrology, geomorphology, biology, history, and trajectory. Biohabitats reviewed historical records and existing data for the project area and considered both historical context and future scenarios that took flooding risk, future water demands, nutrient flows, habitats, and biodiversity into account.

To establish a clear, shared set of values and goals among the project team, local government, and the community, Biohabitats, Hoxie Collective, and Alta Design hosted a three-day planning workshop where local experts, institutional partners, Douglas County residents, and Haskell Indian Nations University students, faculty, and staff came together in discussion and provided their input.

A core element of this open space initiative has been to acknowledge and address some of the land-use history of the corridor. The most important wetland complex in the corridor once belonged to Haskell Indian Nations University, but most of the wetlands were gifted to a local presbyterian college in the mid-20th century by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. When the recipients of that land recently tried to sell part of it for a housing development, the community began a protracted and ongoing conflict over stewardship in the corridor. This further highlighted the need for a shared vision for the future of the Wakarusa River valley.
Douglas County and the Biohabitats team developed an engagement approach that allowed time and space for a deeper level of dialog with Haskell Indian Nations University, so the University could better share their perspective on honoring and protecting all forms of life in the river corridor.

TAGS

• Analysis+Planning
• Assessment+Monitoring
• Conservation
• Ecological Restoration