The City's position that it would take responsibility for the 29th and Mead Site relied heavily on the removal of this site from the NPL by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. After two years of negotiations, discussions and correspondence, the EPA officially removed the Site from the NPL with the support of the community and local businesses. The removal of the Site from the NPL has allowed the City to assume responsibility for the site investigation, to negotiate a Participant Agreement with potentially responsible parties, and to establish a Certificate of Release Program for innocent property owners through an agreement with local lending institutions. The City of Wichita is a partner in the Cheney Watershed program which is achieving a goal of clean water by developing successful relationships among local farmers and local, state, and federal agencies. The Cheney Watershed program addresses the serious problem of water pollution caused by sedimentation that washes into reservoirs from soil erosion, high phosphate levels from fertilizer runoff, and effluent from animal and household waste.
Sedimentation shortens the life of a reservoir and decreases water quality.
High phosphate levels have a negative impact on water quality and wildlife. The Cheney Watershed Program covers 543,000 acres within five counties in south-central Kansas. More than 99 percent of the watershed is used for agricultural purposes. Farming practices within the watershed vary greatly from small dairies and diversified crop and livestock farms, to range land and large acreage under center pivot irrigation. The watershed drains to the east into the Cheney Reservoir which was built in 1964.