|
|
|
|
|
North Fork Salt River Basin - Drinking Water Most of the drinking water in northeast Missouri comes from reservoirs. A large population in the North Fork Salt watershed obtain their drinking water from these reservoirs. Pollutants entering reservoirs can impact local citizens' health and increase the cost of water purification and consumption. The Fox River, Mark Twain Lake, Monroe City Route J Lake, Salt River and Vandalia Lake provide water for drinking, agriculture and recreation. These water sources are listed on the Missouri 1998 List of Impaired Waters. Mark Twain Lake, the largest reservoir in the region, is primarily fed by the North and Middle Forks of the Salt River. The lake is susceptible to nonpoint source pollution from surface water that carries herbicides, fertilizers and nutrient waste. Impairments include atrazine, cyanazine, iron, manganese, and sediments. Below is a list of North Fork Salt watershed counties and their local sources of drinking water. County links show a map of the county, location and related watersheds. The Clarence Cannon Wholesale Water Commission (CCWWC) link includes information about the Commission's responsibilities
List of Impaired Water in the North Fork Salt
Source: Section 303(d) Waters, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, State of Missouri September 23,1998
North Fork of Salt River is a drinking water source for the City of Shelbina and is also the arm of Mark Twain Lake that the Clarence Cannon Wholesale Water Commission retrieves it raw water from. The North Fork of Salt River has not been listed or has it been listed on the 303d impaired waters list. Waters are listed on the 303d list for not meeting its designated use. These designated uses are livestock and wildlife watering, recreation in the form of swimming or boating, fishing, drinking water, and sustaining aquatic life. See Missouri Designated and Beneficial Uses. Once a body of water has been placed on the 303d list a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) documentation must by devised. A TMDL is how much pollution the body of water can sustain and still meet its designated uses. Mark Twain Lake was listed on the 1998 303d list for the pollutant, Atrazine. Atrazine is a common herbicide used to control weeds in corn. Water samples were primarily taken from Mark Twain Lake to determine the impairment.Mark Twain Lake is currently list on the 2002 303d list for mercury. Elevated mercury level is mainly contributed from atmospheric deposition. Mercury enters the precipitation column through the burning of fossil fuels and natural occurrences from geothermal reaction from the earth. The mercury is then carried via precipitation to rivers and lakes. Mercury levels have been found in high concentration in larger predatory fish. A Health Advisory has been issued to children and expecting mothers to stop consumption of these larger predatory fish. Steps have been taken through conservation practices to reduce the atrazine levels in waters of the state. This primarily has been done through the education process of pesticide applicators and farmers on correct application rates and procedures for Atrazine. This education process is a combining effort of many different governmental and supporting entities. These include but are not limited to the Natural Resources Conservation Services, County Soil and Water Districts, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, Department of Conservation, North Fork Project, Missouri Corn Grower Association, University of Missouri Columbia and University Extension, and other community water shed groups and associations. Water analysis collected from the North Fork of Salt River indicates that the major pollutant of concern are non-point source pollution and habitat destruction. This is typical of many of the rivers and streams in the northeast section of Missouri. Non-point source pollution is a conglomeration of many different pollution sources that doesn't have a defined discharge, such as a discharge pipe or man made channel. These non-point source pollution could be from urban runoff from cities, crop and livestock fields, private lawns, golf courses, roads and a wide source of other areas. The majority of the water analysis collected has been from a USGS gauging station in the Northfork of Salt River off Highway 15 in Shelby County. Other analysis can be found from the Corps of Engineer and Clarence Cannon Wholesale Water Commission. Water analysis indicates a high level of turbidity after rainfall events. This is from soil erosion activity in the watershed. High levels of fecal coliform and e-coli bacteria have been found in the Northfork of Salt River in the spring time of the year. This is mainly caused by increased rainfall in the spring along with the increased amount of livestock fecal matter running off the winter pasture areas. The 2002 303d list has several bodies of waters listed in the northeast section of Missouri. The reason why the water body is listed varies greatly. Several lakes are listed because of atmospheric deposition of mercury and/or atrazine pollutants. The reason why streams and rivers are listed are due to many different reasons. Some of these are natural occurrence of manganese or are specifically related to a wastewater treatment facility or rock quarry. Other reasons are runoff from abandoned mines or unknown pollutants. The largest percentage would be from agricultural non-point source runoff. This could be from sedimentation from runoff or increase or decrease in flows due to change the natural flow of a creek. Several streams in the northeast section of the state has had a tremendous decrease in fish habitat due to channelization. Channelized streams have a considerable decrease of pools for larger fish to dwell which has greatly decreased the aquatic habitants of the stream. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Index |
Agriculture |
Non-Ag Activities |
Recreation |
NPS |
Plants & Animals |
Water Quality |
|
Elk River | James River | Sac River | Spring River | North Fork Salt River |
|
Missouri Watershed Information Network (MoWIN) |
Page last updated August 26, 2008 |
