Arkansas River

The water levels in the Arkansas River are extremely low. "Right now the flow is at 10 percent of the normal flow," city engineer Gary Janzen said. They are so low that the Delano District has had to change its Christmas celebration. "They were going to have boats in the river called a flotilla, but unfortunately we haven't had very much rain this year.," Delano business owner Nancy Lawrence said. So parade organizers in the Delano District changed their plans.

The drought has made the Arkansas River in Wichita extremely shallow. Some local men say the low level makes it easier for them to catch big catfish with their hands. Click here for photos of handfishing in the Arkansas River Noodling, as it's called, has been legal in Kansas since 2007. It's been popularized by the show Hillbilly Handfishin' on Animal Planet. Drought helping special kind of fishing.

Park City police, Sedgwick County Sheriff's deputies and fire and rescue crews responded to a call of a submerged vehicle in the Arkansas River at 53rd and West street Thursday morning.  When they arrived they discovered an abandoned Jeep bogged down in the river.  Photos from the Scene Deputies say it looks like someone was driving around along the river bed, illegally, and tried to cross the river when he or she got...

A new portion of bike path will be built in Wichita's mid-town.  The city council approved the extension of path that currently ends at Central.  The city is able to pay for the path with money leftover from another bike path project. The city plans to continue the path from Central to Waco, then south to 1st Street, and west on 1st Street to connect to the Arkansas River pathway system.  The project will be put out for bid in June. It will cost $140,000 to construct this portion of the path.  The city will use leftover money from a block grant from the Department of Energy.  The city was given the grant to connect paths from McAdams Park to Grove Park.  That project is just about complete and came in under budget.  The city checked and found the leftover money could be used towards another eligible pathway.

The Harry Street bridge over the Arkansas River reopened Wednesday afternoon after an inspection by engineers. The bridge was closed this morning following a fire on the west riverbank beneath the bridge. Inspectors found the bridge to be structurally sound. Street maintenance crews took advantage of the temporary closure to perform some routine joint repairs and crack sealing on the bridge surface. --------------------- Original Story A fire early Wednesday morning forces a bridge in south Wichita to close.

Despite Sundays wet weather Wichitans flocked to the Arkansas river for one of Riverfest's main attractions, the "Mid-America WaterCross Championships". Racers weaved jet skis around a tight course on the river. Normally this type of event is held on a lake where there is more room, but event spokesperson, Terry Hibert says the river creates some unique challenges. "You get a little more space on the lake but here on the river it's a  little more extreme, which is why we call it the extreme river challenge.

Prosecutors charged a man with the death of Marshall Hauschulz. Patrick Perkins is charged with one count of first degree murder or an alternative count of second degree murder and robbery. Hauschulz died of blunt force trauma to the head.  His body was found near the Arkansas River in December. Hauschulz was homeless. Perkins was arrested near Central & Broadway in Wichita. Investigators say he was also homeless and on probation. His preliminary hearing is set for February 23. His bond has been set at $250,000.

A leak at Wichita's Wastewater Treatment Plant makes the water in parts of the Arkansas river dangerous. Crews are working through the holiday to fix it, but so far their efforts have failed. The advisory extends from the Lincoln Street bridge in Central Wichita to the Oklahoma state line. Julio Valencia likes fishing near the Lincoln Street bridge just south of downtown. It's a popular spot on a sunny day. "(Catching anything?) Well two of them got away," Valencia said.

The city of Wichita hopes a rain garden will protect the Arkansas River. Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer and other community leaders were on hand Friday morning for a ribbon-cutting for the Grotto Rain Garden. It's located on the River Bike Path, south of the Keeper of the Plains and along the north bank. The newly-installed rain garden is designed to naturally filter storm water runoff before it reaches the river.  Rain gardens are often used as an attractive solution to minimiming surface water pollution.

The second day of Riverfest ended without any rain to cause any worries. Downtown Wichita was filled with people looking for fun. "We thought we would bring the little one out with the family," said Chelsey Stefan who was at Riverfest with her toddler and family. "It's a togetherness and we have time to talk which a lot, doesn't happen nowadays," said Susan Long, who was also with her family. While they were enjoying each other, they also enjoyed the exotic animals like white tigers and camels, and everything the Arkansas River offered.                                              There was no rain at the second day of Riverfest