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Providing
a Haven for Wildlife
Coal-fired power plants demand plenty of water for cooling and
condensation. Kansas City Power & Light's plants use a closed loop
for recycling water, where clean, warm water is eventually discharged
into a lake or river.
The water table around our power plants, especially near large
inventories of coal, is protected by special facilities that prevent
harmful runoff from leaking into the soil and ground water.
The water near our power plants plays a life-sustaining role in
the ecosystem, providing homes to many species of wildlife. The
warm water discharged provides an inviting habitat for fish, waterfowl,
eagles and other animal species. Outdoor enthusiasts take advantage
of our sites for nature hikes, bird watching, fishing and other
outdoor adventures.
Our individual plants -- located at four sites in Kansas City, Mo.,
Weston, Mo., La Cygne, Kan., and Henry County, Mo. -- each have unique
visitors throughout the year:
- The Hawthorn Generating Station, located along the Missouri
River in Kansas City, draws waterfowl and birds of many descriptions.
The station has a nesting box on its smokestack for peregrine
falcons, and it draws North American bluebirds to nesting boxes
located on the plant's property. The pump station provides one
of the few nesting habitats left for cliff swallows. And the plant's
proximity to downtown Kansas City means bald eagles can be seen
flying among the buildings located downtown.
- Bald eagles can be seen at the Iatan Generating Station in Weston.
Drawn by the abundance of fish in the river at the plant site,
the eagles find this a perfect spot for fishing. Last winter,
in fact, Iatan boasted the largest concentration of bald eagles
in Missouri. Visitors to nearby Weston and surrounding towns can
watch the eagles hunt and fish close to the plant. Local members
of the National Audubon Society visit Iatan just to watch these
impressive birds in flight.
- At our La Cygne Generating Station, some 4,900 acres, including
2,400 acres of the lake, are devoted to a Wildlife Management
Area under the Kansas Wildlife and Park Department. The lake supports
a large population of large-mouth bass, crappie and channel cat.
Sightseers and campers can see migrating white pelicans in early
April, bald
 eagles
in spring and fall, double-crested cormorants in the spring and
fall, and indigenous Kansas birds and wildlife throughout the
year. The Wildlife Management Area includes both prairie and woodland
environments.
- In July 1997 and again in 1998, Montrose Station welcomed four
osprey chicks to a large wooden hacking box atop a 12-foot scaffold
a few yards from the station's lake. In a cooperative project
with the Missouri Department of Conservation, KCPL helped the
osprey by building them the ultimate birdhouse on a large utility
pole. Montrose offers a controlled environment for the osprey
so human visitors won't interfere in the delicate time after the
chicks are hatched, when they are most vulnerable. Osprey are
fish-eating birds, so the lake's proximity also offers an advantage
to having the nesting structures located at Montrose.
The Missouri Department of Conservation leases and manages
the Montrose Wildlife area -- 3,600 acres including the reservoir.
The lake supports large populations of largemouth bass, crappie
and channel cat. Visitors see migrating white pelicans in early
April, bald eagles in spring and fall, double-crested cormorants
in the spring and fall, and indigenous Missouri birds and wildlife
throughout the year.
Our efforts on behalf of birds don't stop there. Click
here to find out more about ospreys, peregrine falcons and kestrels.
Return to KCPL Works to Preserve Our Natural World
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