The Carthage Senior High School Stream Team continues to impress with its diligence and hard work in tracking the fate of Spring River.

The team’s work is important, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources should take note. And it would be nice if the state actually did something about what the students are documenting.

In their recent presentation, the students revealed tests that showed bacteria levels in the river were 10 to 20 times higher than what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends for mere contact with the water, such as swimming or fishing. In fact, the levels were so high in some tests that the procedure maxed out and the results reported were the highest the test was capable of detecting.

In addition to the quality of water, the students documented trash and debris along the river’s banks. Student Natalie Lingenfelter suggested the river is being wasted with abuse. “Is it an asset?” she said. “It could be, if it was in better shape.”

We agree.

The Stream Teams are an important program for both monitoring the quality of our local environment and providing community education. State regulators offer the proper rhetoric for supporting the program, but do little follow-up or enforcement when the teams find problems that need to be addressed.

This is the third year of the program for Carthage Senior High School, and team sponsor and science teacher Wayne Christian is to be congratulated for his work with the students and the ongoing attention to an important natural resource.