Friends of the Kaw - Kansas Riverkeeper

08/24/2026

Thank you so much to the team from TREKK Design Group LLC for being a part of the Lawrence Watershed Cleanup Project! We appreciate their hard work and their stewardship of the Kansas River!

Great job, everyone!!

08/24/2026

Join Friends of the Kaw for our River Explorations paddle trip - Mussels of the Kaw on Thursday, August 27th, 2026!

Join us and our special guests, Steve Cringan and Bob Angelo, both retired environmental scientists who spent their careers studying mussels in the streams of Kansas. They will be sharing their knowledge on mussels and their role in the Kansas River.

Mussels of the Kaw will be held on the Kansas River in kayaks with education happening on a sandbar. For this trip, we'll paddle two miles starting at Kaw River State Park in Topeka.

Learn more and sign up at today at www.bit.ly/MusselsOfTheKaw!

08/23/2026

The 3rd Annual One KC Kansas River Cleanup is coming soon!

Saturday, September 12, 2026
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
On the Kansas Riverbank near Rock Island Bridge
Kansas City, KS

Join Friends of the Kaw, our partners, and hundreds of your closest friends and do your part to protect our Kansas River! This year, we're excited to host the One KC Kansas River Cleanup along the Kansas River near the brand new Rock Island Bridge.

* The first 300 people in attendance will receive a free One KC t-shirt!
* Families are welcome and refreshments will be available.
* Visit educational displays by Kansas natural resource leaders.

Following the cleanup, participants will also have the opportunity to sample carp croquettes provided by the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks Invasive Species Program. They're cooking them up on site, so feel free to work up an appetite at the cleanup!

Get more details and register today at www.bit.ly/2026OneKCRSVP!

One River. One Day. One KC.

We'll see you there!

08/21/2026

08/20/2026

It's your final opportunity to join Beginner Wednesday for the 2026 season!

Wednesday, September 2, 2026 - Edwardsville

At Beginner Wednesday, you will learn how to kayak and/or how to read the Kansas River on a guided kayak trip. Our staff and Kaw River Guides, who are all experienced paddlers, will be with you on the trip to help with anything you may need, including safety instruction. If you have never paddled before, we will teach you what you need to know and be there with you on your first journey on the Kansas River.

Get all the details and sign up at www.eventbrite.com/o/17751155327. Email Dawn Buehler at [email protected] with questions.

See you on the river!

08/18/2026

The 3rd Annual One KC Kansas River Cleanup is coming soon!

Saturday, September 12, 2026
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
On the Kansas Riverbank near Rock Island Bridge
Kansas City, KS

Join Friends of the Kaw, our partners, and hundreds of your closest friends and do your part to protect our Kansas River! This year, we're excited to host the One KC Kansas River Cleanup along the Kansas River near the brand new Rock Island Bridge.

* The first 300 people in attendance will receive a free One KC t-shirt!
* Families are welcome and refreshments will be available.
* Visit educational displays by Kansas natural resource leaders.

Following the cleanup, participants will also have the opportunity to sample carp croquettes provided by the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks Invasive Species Program. They're cooking them up on site, so feel free to work up an appetite at the cleanup!

Get more details and register today at www.bit.ly/2026OneKCRSVP!

One River. One Day. One KC.

We'll see you there!

08/17/2026

The Kansas River was smooth as glass today in Lawrence. Dawn caught this view at Riverfront Park while she was scouting before a paddle trip. Wow, we can’t wait to get back on the water!

08/16/2026

What a great time we had at the De Soto Pop Up Paddle and Prairie yesterday!

It was the perfect day to paddle with our Kaw River Guides, catch and learn about aquatic macros, enjoy hot dogs and snacks prepared by the De Soto KS Rotary Club, and for the first time, learn about the park tallgrass prairies on a walk guided by Dawn Wessling, master naturalist and Lexington Lake Park prairie site monitor and seed team member with Kansas City Wildlands, a Bridging The Gap program (we’re glad you could join us, Jacobo!).

Thank you to Great American Bank and all of the other sponsors for supporting this annual event! The Pop Up Paddle sponsors and the De Soto Rotary Club fund our youth water quality education program in part of the De Soto School District and we can’t thank them enough for their support and for partnering with us on the fun event for the community.

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday - we hope you had as much fun as we did!

Johnson County Park and Recreation District - JCPRD
Johnson County K-State Extension