By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

WHEATON, Mo. — The Shoal Creek Watershed Improvement Group has been awarded a $224,600 grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to identify and repair septic systems along the upper reaches of Shoal Creek.

The upper reaches of the waterway, which provides drinking water to Joplin and Neosho downstream, has been identified as impaired by state and federal officials because of bacterial contamination.

Amanda Sappington, project manager for the DNR, said: “This program is designed to help people with leaky septic tanks in the impaired portion of the watershed. We will have a meeting to explain the program to property owners in March.”

Sappington said several septic systems in the watershed already have been fixed.

Drew Holt, who works with the watershed group, said the bacterial loading is coming from three sources.

“DNA tracking during low flows and higher flows showed three primary sources. It’s one-third human, one-third poultry and one-third cattle,” he said.

Property owners along the creek and its tributaries will be eligible for assistance, along with homeowners living within a half-mile of environmentally-sensitive areas, such as losing streams, sinkholes and springs, the DNR said.

The grant was funneled from the federal government to Missouri’s Water Protection Program through a Clean Water Act appropriation.

Sappington said it is estimated there are 1,025 septic systems within a half mile of the creek in the upper watershed. The state will verify whether a system is failing or needs to be pumped out.

If a major repair or replacement is needed, the property owner will face a cost share of 25 percent up to a total expenditure of $5,500, she said. If the system needs to be pumped out, the cost share for the property owner will be 50 percent up to $75.

Sappington said property owners who receive help through the program will enter into maintenance agreements for their systems. The grant will fund repair or replacement of 30 failing home-sewage treatment systems and the pumping out of an additional 40 septic systems. The grant also will finance creation of project maps.

The watershed group will provide a grant match of $149,741 over the life of the project, which is set to run through 2012. The local match will be in the form of a 25 percent match from the property owners, volunteer time and in-kind services.