By Wally Kennedy
Globe Staff Writer
NEOSHO, Mo. - A steering committee, formed Tuesday night in cooperation with the Environmental Task Force of Jasper and Newton Counties, will attempt to establish a watershed management plan for the lower part of Shoal Creek.
About 25 people, including property owners along the creek and public-health officials, met in the basement of the Newton County Courthouse to start planning.
The goal of the group, according to the organizers, will be to "identify and implement voluntary, common-sense actions that will help to improve and conserve the water quality" of the lower part of the creek and its tributaries.
Bob Kulp, director of the Newton County Health Department, said the county did some water-quality surveillance on the creek in 2005 and found that bacterial contamination can be high in certain parts of the creek at certain times of the year. The department specifically tested for E. coli bacteria, an indicator of the presence of other pathogens in the water, and for ammonia, phosphorus and nitrate at 80 sites along the creek.
Kulp said the bacteria are not normally found in high numbers in rivers and creeks, but always are found in sources of sewage contamination. He said that though no distinct conclusions can be drawn from the test data, enough data was gathered to suggest that Newton County could have some problem areas.
Joplin and Neosho draw drinking water from Shoal Creek. Both also draw water from deep wells.
Mark Doolan, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency, in the first part of May, tested the Spring River Basin for 16 regulated heavy metals. More than 2,000 samples were collected over the course of three weeks from 250 sites. The samples did not involve nutrient or bacterial testing.
Doolan said samples were taken from 31 sites along Shoal Creek. The samples involved sediment, water in the sediment and surface water. The test results are expected in early August.
The objective of the testing is to determine which tributaries are dispersing heavy metals from abandoned lead and zinc mining sites into the creeks, and ultimately Spring River and Grand Lake in Oklahoma. The testing involved three states, 10 tribal lands and two EPA regions. Tests, already completed by the agency, show that heavy-metal loading is taking place on a significant scale in some creeks.
Drew Holt, a watershed management coordinator with the University of Missouri Extension Service at Springfield, said strong involvement by all parties involved is needed to develop a management plan for the watershed.
"It's local people understanding what they can do as individuals and taking that message to their neighbors," he said.
Bob Nichols, chairman of the task force, said the group decided it will continue to meet. It also developed a tentative mission statement and defined its involvement in the watershed as being from Empire Lake at Riverton, Kan., to the Newton-Lawrence county line.
Nichols said the mission statement is to "protect, conserve and restore water quality and quantity through scientific and educational programs for all who receive the benefits of Shoal Creek."
Current status
Unlike the upper part of Shoal Creek in Lawrence County, where bacterial contamination has affected water quality, the lower part of the creek has not been classified as impaired. But, officials say, there is reason to be concerned about the quality of the water in the lower part of the creek.
Local News
Shoal Creek focus of effort on water quality
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