Leawood pitches new plan to fix flooding issues in area dubbed ‘Lake Wenonga’

The city of Leawood is looking to repair pipes and stormwater systems in an area that’s been plagued with flooding and water drainage issues during heavy rainstorms.

Now dubbed, “Lake Wenonga,” the city first experienced issues at Wenonga Lane from 119th to 133rd streets in 2013 after a heavy rainstorm filled Wenonga with more than 3 feet of water, and at least two people needed to be rescued by the Leawood Fire Department’s rescue team, Public Works Director David Ley told the Leawood City Council during a meeting on Monday night.

At the time, the city attempted to fix the pipes along the roadway, but funding gaps and easement issues delayed any improvements for years.

Recent storms and heavy rainfalls caused the area to flood again, prompting the city to jump back into action.

Local engineering firm Water Resource Solutions is proposing an approximate $5.5 million project that would divert the water flowing through the area and reduce flooding along the roadway.

The project is still in the early stages and needs approval from Johnson County before anything can begin. If approved, construction could start next spring and be completed in five to six years.

An overwhelmed system

After the 2013 floods, Leawood worked with an engineering firm to put in larger, new pipes along Wenonga to help manage the water volume, and the city received about $5 million in county funding “to take care of the situation,” Ley said.

“We went through the phase one design in late 2018, 2019, and we were not successful in getting the easements, and so we ended up shelving the project,” he said. “As you know, a couple years ago, we had a heavy rain event. Residents came back to us, demanding that we start and so you guys directed us to look at other ways to try to solve the problem.”

During the 2024 rains, 19 residences and 14 street locations experienced flooding — with some areas seeing more than 3 feet of water again, said Don Baker, an engineer with Water Resource Solutions.

“In this particular watershed, there’s branches of the stormwater system, and they all come together at one point,” Baker said. “And it just so happens that the timing of the flows come together at one point, one time, and so that’s the result of why we’re getting the flooding.”

“And so our ideas were centered on how we break up that timing.”

Separating the water

To separate some of the water flowing through the pipes, the engineering firm is proposing a bypass line — a diversion system that would reroute water through Pawnee Lane Baker said.

The engineers landed on a bypass line because it was more affordable and less impactful to the neighbors than if they opted to install larger pipes along Wenonga.

“And maybe what pushed it over the edge is that Pawnee needs to be rebuilt anyway. So it’s a two birds, one stone sort of thing. Why tear something up twice?” he said. “We still have to do some stuff over at Wenonga, but it’s a lot smaller than if we were to totally just upsize that system.”

Leawood still needs to get approval from the Johnson County Stormwater Management Advisory Committee before they can begin, city spokesperson Beth Breteinstein said after the meeting. Once the study is approved by the county, Leawood will negotiate and look to approve a contract with Water Resource Solutions.

As of Tuesday, the city anticipates final plans will go back to Johnson County by fall 2026 and the city will approve construction contracts in spring 2027.