Arkansas River Water Trail

Only three rivers in Kansas are legally navigable and open to public recreation: the Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri rivers.

192-miles of the Arkansas River, stretching from Great Bend to the Oklahoma border, were added to the National Water Trails system in 2016.

• Trip Planning – planning a float trip? How far do you want to go? Below are resources that will help you decide:
  • Check the water levels
  • Float Distances
  • Mileage Chart
  • Suggested Float Trips
  • GPS points of Access Site locations
  • Boating Safety Resources

Resources for learning more about the Arkansas River:
There are numerous webpages with information on where to paddle and new resources are always popping up!

• Arkansas River Coalition
• KDWP – Paddling Resources
• The Pathfinder – Where to Paddle
• TravelKS – Canoe&Kayak

Books:

• Elevations: A Personal Exploration of the Arkansas River
• Paddling Kansas: 62 Great Trips by Canoe and Kayak

During Fall 2020, a small Work Group of key partners will prioritize the access points, prepare for the graphic design work, and finalize a project timeline. In spring 2021, a graphic designer was chosen to produce the signs.

Watch for sign kiosks to be built and installed by the Evergy Green Team from winter 2021 through completion of the project.

KAWS will be requesting community involvement through out the project.

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Communities and neighborhoods are passionate about their connection to their local rivers and streams.
Here are a few opportunities to get involved:

• Arkansas River Cleanup (annual) – Wichita
• Arkansas River Coalition – floats, projects and cleanups
• Wichita Clean Streams
• Lights on the River

Kansas Alliance for Wetlands & Streams
arkriver@kaws.org

Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks

jeff.conley@ks.gov

Arkansas River Coalition
http://www.arkrivercoalition.org/contact-us.html

• Who owns the Water? In Kansas, water is not considered property unless you have a legal property right to it.  Want to know more about water law? The Kansas Department of Agriculture is a great place to start learning more about water rights in Kansas.
• Who owns/controls the land next to the River? Riparian rights are a type of water rights awarded to landowners whose property is located along flowing bodies of water, such as rivers or streams. In the event the water is a non-navigable waterway, the landowner generally owns the land beneath the water to the exact center of the waterway. However, if the water is designated as “navigable” (like the Arkansas River):
• Navigable Waters of the United States: There are 3 “Navigable” rivers in Kansas, the Arkansas, Kansas (Kaw) and the Missouri. Navigable waters of the United States are “those waters that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide and/or are presently used, or have been used in the past, or may be susceptible for use to transport interstate or foreign commerce. A determination of navigability, once made, applies laterally over the entire surface of the waterbody, and is not extinguished by later actions or events which impede or destroy navigable capacity.”  Navigability of a water body is a determination made by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
• What’s all that mean? Well, it means that, you have the legal right to be between the “ordinary high water mark” on either side of the river, as long as you are accessing the river from a public access point, and you do not venture above that “high water mark” onto privately owned land.  Unlike the other streams in Kansas, the area between those “high water marks” are not private property – the landowner on either side ONLY owns the land down to the “high water mark.”
• Ordinary High water mark? Interpreting high water mark isn’t always easy. Basically, it means, if there are signs of permanent vegetation at a certain spot on the bank, that’s probably the highest the river has been in awhile and most people would see that as an “ordinary high water mark.”