Today, October 4, at the beginning of the City Council meeting (approximately 9 AM), officials from the Oklahoma-Texas Area Bureau of Reclamation, State of Kansas Division of Water Resources, as well as Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks will be on hand to accept the final payment from the citizens of Wichita for its share of the cost of constructing the Cheney Reservoir. The final payment is in the amount of $285,095, actually lower than originally anticipated because of favorable interest rates and lower than anticipated construction costs. The original contract was for $18,274,000 with the City of Wichita agreeing to pay $7,333,000.

The Cheney Reservoir was authorized by local voters in November of 1956 with 63% voting in favor of authorizing the project to help provide water to future Wichitans. President Eisenhower signed the bill authorizing the work and partnerships between the Federal, State and Local governments. A groundbreaking ceremony for the reservoir occurred on May 29, 1963. The dedication ceremony was held on May 29, 1965 in which over 5,000 people attended.

Today, the Cheney Reservoir has a pump station that holds a capacity of 80 million gallons of water per day for Wichita. The City of Wichita operates the facility of the Cheney Dam and Reservoir. The Cheney Reservoir is a vital component of the City’s current water supply and provides nearly 65-70% of the total water used by citizens of Wichita. In addition to the water supply, Cheney Reservoir also serves as a major recreational facility. The State Park has averaged 500,000 visitors per year. Throughout the 40 years since it was established, that would be about 20 million visitors per year.

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