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Brush
Creek
Water,
Water, Everywhere
by Debby Hays,THB Membership Chair
The
Clean Water Act is supposed to protect our nations’ waters,
but there are no guarantees in life, especially when it comes to
natural resources. So there’s plenty of reasons and opportunities
to get personally involved in making sure we do what we can to help
protect and preserve one of our most precious (and finite) resources:
FRESH WATER. More...
Drain
pipe on Brush Creek
Photo: Lee Smith
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Connecting
the Dots
Heartland
Sierran,
Oct. 2004
Sometimes it takes a wild imagination to connect the dots. Other
times it might just be a matter of opening the eyes. The problems
of Brush Creek could be just one of those events where you either
let your mind run wild or just close your eyes to it. A lot of people
who see the development that’s taken place along Brush Creek
think things are improving. We think the departure of the gondola
rides was just another idea in the city that never took off. We
see the Corps working on a huge project east of the Plaza where
people were swept to their deaths in the flood of October 1998.
We see progress and we see it as a hopeful sign that the “problems”
are being fixed. But the harsh reality is the Corps project does
nothing to stop the raw sewage from dumping into Brush Creek when
it rains. Neither do the well-maintained gardens at the Kauffman
Memorial or the monumental waterfall that graces the front of Stowers
Institute. Brush Creek is still the “system” it was
designed to be over 100 years ago — a combined sewer outlet
that allows raw sewage to flow through the middle of our city and
on to the Missouri River where — you guessed it — most
of our drinking water is obtained. more...
Brush
Creek - Pipe Dream
Heartland Sierran,
Aug. 2004
Why is it we are resigned to accepting the conditions that cause
Brush Creek to be dubbed Flush Creek? Doesn't it seem bizarre to
you that we all seem fine with letting the city allow raw sewage
to openly flow through one of the most high-profile streams in our
town? That we have somehow come to accept that it's OK not to see
Brush Creek as a stream to be protected under the Clean Water Act?
When the Clean
Water Act was passed back in 1977, it had the lofty goal of restoring
the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of our Nation's
waters. more...
Water,
More Precious Than Oil
Heartland
Sierran, Apr. 2003
We
have enough fears already. We shouldn’t have to fear our waters.
Less than a
year ago Robert Kennedy Jr. was in Kansas City calling on local
residents to “reclaim our city’s waterfronts, preserve
the water and secure recreational activities for future generations.”
Standing on the bank where the Missouri and Kansas Rivers converge,
he commented, “I look at this river and see a waterfront with
huge potential that’s being squandered.” more...
Brush
Creek near the Plaza
Photo: Claus Wawrzinek
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Photo
Gallery - Brush Creek
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