Wichita suffered severe floods of the Arkansas river in 1877 , 1904 , 1916 , 1923 , 1944 , 1951 and 1955 . In 1944 the city flooded 3 times in 11 days . As a result of the 1944 flood , the idea for the Wichita-Valley Center Floodway ( locally known as the " Big Ditch " ) was conceived . The project was completed in 1958 . The Big Ditch diverts part of the Arkansas River 's flow around west-central Wichita , running roughly parallel to the Interstate 235 bypass . A second flood control canal lies between the lanes of Interstate 135 , running south through the central part of the city . Chisholm Creek is diverted into this canal for most of its length . The city 's flood defenses were tested in the Great Flood of 1993 . Flooding that year kept the Big Ditch full for more than a month and caused $ 6 million of damage to the flood control infrastructure . The damage was not fully repaired until 2007 . In 2019 , the Floodway was renamed the MS Mitch Mitchell Floodway in honor of the man credited for its creation
Great Flood of 1993
Great Flood of 1993
Wichita, Kansas