The North Fork of the Ninnescah River flows east across south central Kansas. In the mid-1960s, Cheney Reservoir was constructed at the lower end of the river to supply water to the City of Wichita, and to provide recreation and flood control. Today, Wichita draws 70 percent of its water from the reservoir. 

The Cheney Lake Watershed (CLW), or more specifically, the north fork of the Ninnescah River, covers 633,000 acres across five Kansas counties. More than 99 percent of the watershed is agricultural, ranging from small dairy farms, crops, and livestock, to large acreages of irrigated rangeland. 

In 1992, an algae bloom erupted in Cheney Lake, arousing citizen complaints about the poor taste and odor of their water. Excess phosphorus and sediment were to blame for most of the reservoir’s problems, much of it coming from poor farming practices. The Reno and Sedgwick County Conservation Districts teamed with Wichita to address the problem. This led to the formation of the non-profit organization, CLW Inc., which provides water quality education and facilitates funding for clean water projects.