The State Board of Health accepted the Cheney feasibility report on June 11, 1958, subject to compliance with federal and state pollution abatement requirements. Then on June 17, the Bureau of Reclamation formally transmitted to Wichita the Cheney feasibility report and forwarded the report to federal departments and agencies involved with water matters as a result of laws and inter-agency agreements, and to the Arkansas River basin states of Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The federal agencies included the Federal Power Commission (FPC), the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Agriculture (DOA), the Department of Commerce (DOC), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW).

Governor George Docking, upon receiving the recommendation of the Kansas Water Resources Board, gave the Ninnescah project his full endorsement on June 27, 1958. In his formal written approval, as required by law, Docking told of Wichita's electoral support for the project as well as of the state's approval for the city to store and appropriate water for the reservoir. He also informed the officials that state agencies concurred with the physical development plan. His letter concluded, "In view of the foregoing, and on behalf of the state of Kansas, I concur in the summary recommendations contained in your report on the Cheney Reservoir and request that same be transmitted for immediate consideration of Congress." (Eagle, 6/20/58).

Throughout the next month, the FPC, DOL, DOC and the states of Texas and Oklahoma concurred with the project. On July 24, the Kansas State Board of Health sent the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) a summary of municipal pollution problems at Wichita, recommending that federal aid for the Cheney Reservoir be conditioned upon the city adopting municipal pollution abatement programs. The city, mainly through Howse, kept close contact with federal and state officials, pushing the project forward.

Acceptance continued as the states of New Mexico and Colorado, the DOA, and the Corps of Engineers all concurred with Secretary Seaton's report. By the end of August, the report was waiting for the approval of the PHS and HEW. Howse used this to emphasize the need for pollution abatement, telling the newspapers that the main concern of the PHS was the pollution of the Arkansas River. He said, "This source of pollution is well known and is a matter of record for the past 20 years. The city and the industry (north of the city) both were cited in the Arkansas, White, and Red river basins report authorized by the flood control act of 1950 and published in 1955." (Beacon, 8/28/58). According to Howse, the PHS wanted assurance that the secondary sewage treatment plant would be built, that a sewer use ordinance would be enacted and enforced, additional sewer lines outlined in the 12-point pollution abatement plan would be constructed, and that the use of the city's industrial sewer would be discontinued, when the new plant was completed. Howse reported that he had been informed by members of Congress that, "unless the city lives up to its agreements and takes the necessary steps to abate pollution in the Arkansas River, the city has no chance of getting Congressional approval of the Ninnescah Reservoir." (Beacon, 8/28/58).

During this time the commission had been acting by approving various stages of the 12-point program, often by a 3 to 2 vote. Howse assured PHS that "the commission intends to go right down the line in carrying out these agreements." At the same time, Howse continued to emphasize that the federal authorities had the commission records and knew of the acts of Stevens and Madden hindering the program, all of which hurt the city's chances. But on August 28, 1958, HEW officially concurred in the Cheney feasibility report and accepted the 12-point pollution abatement program which had been accepted by the state of Kansas and the city of Wichita. (Howse, 1962).

Senator Schoeppel wrote a letter to Mayor Gardner to clarify the project's position, dated September 11, 1958. It reported that, with the approval of the secretary of interior and review and acceptance by all six federal departments and agencies, as well as all but one of the states, the Cheney Reservoir project had moved "into a new phase preparatory to its consideration by the Congress in the next regular session beginning January, 1959." (Eagle, 9/14/58). The history of the project was outlined in the lengthy letter as well as a description of what remained to be done. The Bureau of Reclamation, after revising its original report based on the comments of the reviewing federal and state agencies, then sent the report to the Bureau of the Budget. The Bureau of the Budget would then initiate the required procedures in order to obtain Congressional action on the appropriated funds.

In the letter, Schoeppel reiterated his opinion that the city would have to continue to show strong support for the project. "Success of the Cheney Reservoir project will depend in direct measure on the actions of the people of Wichita and its governing body," the letter said. The words from previous letters were reemphasized, that the city's past actions showing lack of unity would hurt its cause. The letter continued, "Wichita does not live in a vacuum and its actions are well-known, both to opponents of the reservoir program and to proponents of other federal programs engaged in sharp competition for federal aid and financing in a situation where there simply is not enough money to support all applications." According to the senator, Wichita had to continue to cooperate and carry out "its obligations in a straightforward manner." (Howse, 1962; Eagle, 9/14/58).

A few days later, at the September 16 meeting of the City Commission, Howse presented a resolution to commend the senator for his work on the Cheney project. He was singled out first because of his status as senior senator in Kansas. Madden and Stevens objected to the resolution, claiming that all the members of the Kansas delegation should have been included. When Gardner recommended separate resolutions for each member contributing to the project, Stevens, with Madden agreeing, objected because it would "set up a feeling of prejudice and ill will." Madden brought up Schoeppel's letter, saying, "I don't need Schoeppel telling me what the law is. I can read the letter and clearly see who prepared it, and it was prepared by Howse to injure the reputation of Stevens and myself." (Beacon, 9/16/58). Gardner gaveled him out of order and the commission proceeded to pass the motion 3 to 2. At which point Madden called out, "Here's another example of the one-man rule." Despite progress on the project, the commission certainly hadn't achieved peace in its ranks. (Beacon, 9/16/58).

Howse had originally planned to submit resolutions commending Senator Carlson and Representative Ed Rees as well, but withdrew them to avoid the "indignities" which Schoeppel faced. Howse argued the other members of the Congressional delegation had not worked on the project yet because the legislation had not been submitted to Congress and claimed, "This is another example of the efforts of Madden and Stevens to kill the Ninnescah project by indirection in voting against every action that affects the project, while at the same time taking a large public position in favor of the reservoir." Schoeppel stated later that he, not Howse, authored the letter. (Eagle, 9/14/58). On September 17, 1958, city officials met with a Bureau of Reclamation team in Oklahoma City to review all phases of the Cheney project, and to prepare the presentation to Congressional committees. Terms of the actual legislation were agreed upon including recommendations of the reviewing agencies. City Manager Backstrom said after the meetings, "From here on it's merely a matter of draftsmanship." (Eagle, 9/15/58).

A meeting of local, state, and federal officials was held in Wichita on October 15 to discuss the final phases of the project, coinciding with a visit from Floyd E. Dominy, associate commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. Dominy's visit would be the final review of the project before the Department of Interior sent its recommendation to the Bureau of the Budget. The one-day conference included meetings with involved officials, a tour of the reservoir site and a luncheon with 500 guests.

At the conference, Dominy reiterated the advice of many others when he claimed that ultimate approval depended on Wichita presenting a united front in support of the project. He endorsed the city's actions, saying that the city had "had excellent representation" in Washington by Howse, and that he knew of nothing more the city could do. Even so, Dominy predicted that the project would not be able to achieve authorization and appropriation in the 1959 session. Nine similar projects had already received authorization but not the financial appropriations. On October 16, 1958, Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas made the final approval of the Cheney project, the last in a long line. The city was ready for the next big step--Congressional approval.

On December 16, 1958, the Kansas State Board of Health took a step to overcome the pollution hindrance to the project when it accepted the city's pledge to push for enabling legislation allowing a new southwest sewer main and to award a contract as soon as possible. Beginning February 1, 1959, monthly progress reports were requested, and the board repeated its insistence on completing the 12-point pollution abatement program. Soon after, on December 30, the regional office of the Bureau of Reclamation completed its reappraisal of Cheney. As a result of the reappraisal, federal officials met with the City Commission on January 20, 1959, to deal with concerns of various agencies in attaining maximum use of the reservoir. The commission accepted the proposal to expand the reservoir from 144,800 acre feet to a potential 225,800 acre feet, and to raise the dam from 80 feet to 81.3. The city's share of the new $19,607,000 project ($18,885,000 plus interest) would be $8,650,700, repaid over 40 years. On February 3, 1959, the commission reaffirmed its commitment to the project and authorized Howse to lobby Washington for the project.