KU News Release

LAWRENCE — Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little has approved a project to dredge Potter Lake on the University of Kansas’ Lawrence campus.

The project, which will remove excess sediment and plant life that has accumulated over more than five decades, will restore the lake’s ecological health. The $125,000 project will be funded by KU’s Student Senate Finance Committee, the Office of the Chancellor and a gift to KU Endowment from Philippe Adam of Paris, France, and Pat and Brenda Oenbring of Houston, Texas. Student Senate approved the funds at its April 7 meeting. The project is scheduled to start in June and be completed before the beginning of the fall semester.

Gray-Little praised the Potter Lake Project, a group of students behind the lake’s restoration.

“The students of the Potter Lake Project have shown tremendous leadership throughout this endeavor,” she said. “They helped raise awareness of the need for improvements to the lake and worked very hard to secure funding and coordinate clean up events. I am proud of their efforts in preserving a landmark that is very dear to so many Jayhawk alumni.”

A second project that will reduce soil runoff and erosion that feeds into the lake includes storm water improvements to Jayhawk Boulevard. A $200,000 improvement will upgrade undersized inlets on Jayhawk Boulevard, then construct new, adequately sized inlets and add a sedimentation basin to collect runoff. The improvements will be funded by American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds. Jim Modig, director of Design and Construction Management, said he does not anticipate the work will cause any street closures or loss of parking spaces.

The runoff and erosion of nutrient-rich soil has led to an excess of plant growth and organic material.

“A big part of the problem is an overload of nutrients in the water,” said Marion Paulette, landscape architect with Design and Construction Management. “That’s why we had complete green overgrowth there last summer. This project should restore the ecological balance of nutrients and oxygen in the lake.”

The excess vegetation absorbs high amounts of oxygen in the water, making it difficult for other organisms to survive.

The dredging will be done hydraulically, meaning it will not be necessary to drain the lake. Suction pumps located on a barge will remove sediment from the bottom of the lake, which will then be discarded. The hydraulic dredging greatly will reduce the amount of damage to the landscape surrounding the lake, Modig said.

The Potter Lake Project has installed aerators and hosted cleanups at the lake over the past year. Testing by the Kansas Biological Survey indicated that dredging is the most sustainable way of reducing excess plant growth and improving water quality.

The lake has only been dredged once, in 1957, since its completion in 1911.

Paulette and Modig also gave credit to student leaders who have pursued the lake’s restoration. The Potter Lake Project helped secure funding, coordinate efforts between students, faculty, staff and volunteers and raise awareness of the need for work at the lake.

“They’ve been the driving force behind all of the activity,” Paulette said.

“Potter is an icon. It has its own place in university lore,” Modig added. “Hopefully, when the project is complete, it will be able to both maintain its beauty and be healthy ecologically.”