By Mike Surbrugg

msurbrugg@joplinglobe.com

CARTHAGE, Mo. — The Jasper County Soil and Water Conservation District has applied for a $1.4 million grant to be used over four years to improve water quality in the North Fork of Spring River.

The application will go through a review, and any needed changes will be made before approval, said Robert Paul, district conservationist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Jasper and Barton counties.

The application has been sent to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. That department obtains and administers funds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency collects from fines because of water-quality violations. That money is allocated to states for use in water-quality projects, Paul said.

The application relates to a 251,360-acre watershed, most of which is in Barton and Jasper counties. Lawrence County residents who own land in the 4,000 acres in that county that are part of the North Fork watershed also may participate, Paul said. If funds are approved, participation by farmers and landowners would be voluntary.

Work to improve water quality also could help reduce flooding along the stream. The money cannot be used for stream dredging.

A potential goal of the grant is to develop 20 controlled grazing systems to keep livestock out of streams, Paul said. Such systems would fence off streams and take water to cattle. A technician also could be hired to do soil tests. The samples would be tested to help landowners develop nutrient-management plans that could lower fertilizer costs without reducing crop yield.

The money also could help pay for grass-filtration practices to create a buffer between the edge of fields and steams in the watershed, and to help farmers install 10,000 acres of no-tillage land and to improve existing irrigation systems.

Paul said communities and organizations within the watershed have voiced support for the project. County commissions in Barton and Jasper counties are among those giving support.

Lynn Dawson is Jasper County Soil and Water Conservation District program manager for the potential project. She said the goal is reduce the amount of erosion in Spring River.

The program would be in addition to other soil and water conservation programs that the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the local district administer.

Mike Surbrugg is the farm editor for The Joplin Globe.