A new threat for the Kansas River has been reported. Five privately owned dredging companies keep insisting on increasing the dredging operations from 2.2 million tons to 3.2 million tons.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks conducted a study which says that these private dredging operations are triggering notable harm to the river.
Sand bed river dredging causes excessive erosion to the riverbanks, say Kansas State professors. This causes a drop in both the water level of the river and the adjacent water table in the floodplain. This drop thus has the potential to affect municipal wells and intake pipes for water treatment plants.
[mappress]
Dredging Today Staff, December 7, 2011;