State Parks Recovering From High Water

Workers have been scrambling to ready flood-damaged Kansas parks for an expected onslaught of Fourth of July visitors.

Linda Lanterman is state park director for the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism. She says waters are receding and conditions are “looking good,” despite a few trouble spots that include some closed swim beaches and docks. She also says parks workers haven’t had a chance to clear some of the debris or replace all the gravel that was washed off roads.

Problems began around Memorial Day, with water lapping a restroom roof at northeastern Kansas’ Perry State Park during the worst of the flooding.

Staff was shuffled around and extra seasonal workers were added to help clear the mess. Lanterman described the effort as a success.