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KC Water Breaks Ground on New Green Infrastructure Project

Posted on May 13, 2016

(Kansas City, Mo.) – The future is bright for a vacant lot in south Kansas City.

“This project will be our largest green infrastructure project that we’ve done to date,” said KC Water Director Terry Leeds.

On Tuesday, KC Water joined KCMO Councilwoman Alissia Cannady and Brenda Thomas, president of the Marlborough Community Coalition to break ground on a 10-acre, $30 Million investment at 81st and Troost.

“This is a long time coming,” said Councilwoman Cannady. “The Marlborough Community Coalition, Water Services, the engineers, and the consultants all worked really hard to put together something that was going to engage the community and accomplish the goal of reducing sewer in the combined sewer system and provide more clean water for the community.”

“Green infrastructure projects provide a very good opportunity to incorporate a community’s needs into the project planning process. This 10 acre site will be an opportunity to have additional investments for common meeting space, a community garden,” said Leeds.

The amenities are what has the attention of Tricia DeGraff. She’s the principal of Academy for Integrated Arts. Her school is expanding just a few blocks away.

“We’re very excited for this park because it’s going to be walking distance from our school,” said DeGraff. “We are a project approach school so a lot of curriculum starts with community walks and so this is going to be perfect for our students. They’ll be able to easily walk down here and this will be a part of their learning and their curriculum and also a beautiful place to be to enjoy the outdoors.”

81st and Troost is one of three areas in the Marlborough Community receiving infrastructure improvements. Construction is underway at Arletta Park and will start soon at Rachel Morado.

These projects are part of Kansas City’s largest infrastructure investment, the Overflow Control Program, a 25-year, $4.5-$5 billion, federally mandated effort to reduce sewer overflows and improve water quality in our region.

“We’re using green infrastructure to hold back stormwater keeping it out of the combined sewer system. This project will hold over 11 million gallons in a big rainfall event and keep that from overflowing and mixing with sewage into the Blue River,” explained Leeds.

Work on all three areas is anticipated to be complete by December 2017.

For more information, please contact Brooke Givens, Media Relations Coordinator, at brooke.givens@kcmo.org or 816.513.0284.

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KC Water maintains and operates water treatment and distribution systems, stormwater management systems, and wastewater collection and treatment systems for residential and business customers in Kansas City and for wholesale customers in the Kansas City area. KC Water is primarily funded by fees charged to customers based on their use or impacts on the three utility systems.

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