John Redmond Reservoir

John Redmond Reservoir is a reservoir on the Neosho River in eastern Kansas. Built and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it is used for flood control, recreation, water supply, and wildlife management. It borders the Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge to the northwest.HistoryThe Neosho River valley flooded more than 50 times in the 30 years leading up to 1950 when the U.S. Congress authorized the flood control project that later became John Redmond Dam and Reservoir. It was authorized and awaiting construction during the Great Flood of 1951 which inundated downtown Burlington and Strawn where some locations had floodwater 30ft deep.Originally, Congress authorized the project under the Flood Control Act of 1950 as Strawn Dam in reference to Strawn, the town located where the reservoir is today. Strawn was relocated 6mi to the east on higher ground and renamed New Strawn at the time the dam was constructed. In 1958, Congress renamed the project John Redmond Dam and Reservoir in honor of the late John Redmond, the publisher of the Burlington Daily Republican who had been a long-time advocate for flood control and water conservation along the Neosho River. Redmond had died in 1953.The entire design and construction of the project was conducted by the Tulsa District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at a total cost of $29,264,000. The dam began to undergo construction on June 18, 1959 and went into service on November 17, 1964, several weeks before final completion, in order to protect the Neosho River valley from the expected winter and spring floods.