Posted on September 17, 2025
MANHATTAN – Kansans on and around the water at Tuttle Creek Lake will get to see an innovative engineering solution in action this month that aims to save the reservoir from a muddy problem.
The Kansas City District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) recently announced in a press release that it will launch the first of three demonstrations of a new Water Injection Dredging (WID) project at Tuttle Creek Lake. The demonstration is currently slated for Sept. 17 and will be active through Sept. 27.
WID involves using a controlled injection of water from a barge to push loose sediment off the bottom of the lake and create a current where it can be carried downstream naturally. The USACE hopes the upcoming demonstration will provide an assessment of the effectiveness of this new method to reduce sediment piling up inside the lake so that it may be applied to other reservoirs in the future.
“We are excited to launch this first demonstration period for Water Injection Dredging at Tuttle Creek Lake,” said Laura Totten, project manager for the Tuttle Creek Reservoir Water Injection Dredging Demonstration Project at the Kansas City District. “This project represents a significant step forward in exploring sustainable dredging techniques to maintain water storage capacity and evaluate the associated environmental effects.”
The USACE reported in April 2024 that its engineers are using the WID project to save Tuttle Creek Lake from the threat of sediment building up within it. The agency estimates that, without any intervention, the lake will be 75% full of mud by 2049 and have around 7% of water storage left by 2074.
Totten told 27 News last year that the lake was 50% full of sediment, an issue that continues to grow with each passing day. More than 40% of people in Kansas rely on water from Tuttle Creek Lake, which is known as the largest reservoir in the state’s Kansas River Basin. The lake also provides flood control for northeast Kansas residents and is recognized for preventing more than $12 billion in damages over the course of its lifespan, according to the USACE.
The USACE and other partners will monitor several key aspects during the upcoming WID demonstration. These include the following:
- Sediment transport – studying the movement and dispersal of sediment following injection.
- Environmental impacts – monitoring the quality of the water, aquatic life and potential impacts to sensitive areas.
- Operational efficiency – evaluating the speed, overall efficiency and cost of the WID project.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Kansas Water Office and USACE will collect water-quality data from the Big Blue and Kansas Rivers before, during and after the dredging. To learn more about the WID project, click here.
