The initiative is an attempt by state government working with local participants to carry out the water quality protection and restoration strategies in a targeted fashion, concentrating state resources on priority pollutants and within restricted geographic settings thought to produce disproportionate loads of those pollutants. The Initiative is incentive based, relying on local voluntary efforts, enhanced public awareness, technical and financial assistance and appropriate monitoring and evaluation of programs, practices, participation and pollution. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is also involved. The Kansas-Lower Republican Basin was chosen as the pilot basin because it represents a variety of issues stemming from point and non point source pollution activities. Aside from the Missouri River, it is the major surface water supply in Kansas.
Reservoirs support the flow of the Kansas River.
Major industrial activity is in place along the river. Agriculture is predominant in the basin, both along the mainstem of the river and its tributaries, particularly above the supporting reservoirs. The mixture of impacts from rural settings and urban centers requires a diverse approach to dealing with water quality issues within the basin. The Target Areas Component focuses resources on geographic areas within the basin impacting high priority water resources, emphasizing restoration efforts. The Black Vermillion watersheds in the Blue subbasin and the Grasshopper Creek watershed in the Delaware subbasin have been targeted to direct state resources to combating pollution loading from those sites.