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Sac River Basin - Non-Agricultural Activities Articles
in the Springfield News-Leader about the Sac River, can be accessed online at:
Wastewater Treatment Plants City sewage treatment facilities, industries, apartment complexes, mobile home parks, and subdivisions have permits to release treated wastewater into streams. There are many sewage treatment plants in the Sac River Basin. Sewage treatment plants are used to treat water to make it less harmful to the river or stream in which it is released. If your house is connected to a sewer, the water that leaves your house, when you flush your toilet, take a shower, etc. travels in pipes to the city’s wastewater treatment plant. The city’s treatment facility treats the water to remove chemicals and bacteria and releases the water into a stream. In the Sac River watershed, there is a total of 52 wastewater facilities, including 19 public wastewater facilities and 33 private wastewater facilities. On average, the 19 public wastewater facilities release a total of 31.1 million gallons of treated wastewater every day. Wastewater treatment plants are in Springfield, Republic, Fair Play (2 plants), Humansville, Lockwood, Stockton, Greenfield (2 plants), Ash Grove, Billings, Walnut Grove, and Willard. In the past, there have been records of high levels of chemicals like nickel, cadmium, and ammonia being released from wastewater treatment plants the above plants. In addition, there is not always enough dissolved oxygen in the water released by the sewage treatment plants. Northwest Wastewater
Treatment Plant Wastewater from north Springfield is directed through sewer lines to the NWTP for treatment. To see a map of the area serviced by the NWTP, visit http://www.ci.springfield.mo.us/egov/publicworks/sanitary/san_images/nwbasins.jpg. The NWTP also treats leachate collected from the Springfield Sanitary Landfill. Treated water from the NWTP is released into the Little Dry Sac River, which flows north out of Springfield towards Stockton Lake. To learn more about the NWTP, visit the link at http://www.ci.springfield.mo.us/egov/publicworks/sanitary/nw_plant.html. The NWTP can be contacted at 417-833-0697. If your house is not connected to the sewer, then the wastewater from your house goes into a septic tank located under the ground in your yard or surrounding land. The wastewater in a septic tank must be pumped out every 3 years or it could overflow and leach into the surrounding soil and potentially run into the groundwater. There are nearly 60,000 septic tanks in southwest Missouri. Since many septic tanks were installed years ago before permits for their installation were required, there is no record of exactly how many septic tanks lie underground across the Ozarks. Most counties in the Sac began to issue permits for septic tanks in 1992 or 1993. Since 1996, Polk County has permitted 1,117 septic systems. In Dade County, 313 new installations have been permitted since 1998. It is estimated that there are thousands of septic tanks in addition to these that were constructed before permits from government agencies were required. County health departments typically have information on septic tanks for their county. There are three primary dams within the Sac River Basin: Stockton Lake dam, Fellows Lake dam and McDaniel Lake dam. Stockton lake was created in 1969 by impounding the Sac River for the purpose of flood control and hydroelectric power generation. A flood control reservoir captures water during high rainfall periods so that areas downstream from the reservoir don’t get flooded. When the rain slows, water is released from the dam and creates power. Stockton Lake dam is 5,100 feet long, and stands 153 high. During flooding, Stockton Lake has the capacity to hold 1,674,000 acre-feet of water. An acre-foot is the volume of water that would fill an area of land to a depth of one foot. That’s over 545 billion gallons! Fellows Lake was constructed in 1955 by impounding the Little Sac River. In 1992, the dam was raised to increase lake capacity, which is now 10.1 billion gallons. Fellows Lake was built to provide drinking water for Springfield, Missouri , and surrounding areas.McDaniel Lake was constructed in 1929 by damming the Little Sac River. In 1990, the dam was raised to increase lake capacity, which is now 1.5 billion gallons. McDaniel Lake was also built to provide drinking water for , Missouri, and surrounding areas.Landfills The Springfield Sanitary Landfill is located a few miles north of Springfield, MO, just west of Highway 13. The landfill opened in 1975, and has thus far filled 120 acres of land with 4.6 million tons of trash. The landfill receives 350-375 tons of trash every day. The city of Springfield owns 1,000 acres of land within the landfill. Of this, 140 acres are permitted for use, which is predicted to fulfill the city’s landfill demands until 2040. The landfill charges a fee of $27.50 per ton to trash collectors and other entities wishing to dump trash in the landfill. These fees go to support the Springfield recycling program. There are safeguards at the landfill put in place to protect nearby ground and surface waters. These safeguards include:
Leachate includes all the liquid waste fluid that leaks out from the compacted trash. This leachate is disposed of through a leachate collection system, which involves a series of pipes that direct the waste fluid underground into an above ground holding pond. This leachate is then trucked to the Northwest Wastewater Treatment Facility, which treats the fluid and releases the treated water into the Little Dry Sac River. See Pictures 1 and 2 below. There are 14 groundwater monitoring wells at the landfill which are sampled twice a year. These ensure the landfill is not having a significant impact on the underlying aquifer, and that methane produced by the decomposing trash is not spreading beyond the landfill’s boundaries. When an area of the landfill is excavated top make room for more trash, several layers of physical barriers must first be laid down. These ensure that trash materials do not seep into the soils below the landfill. These barriers include (starting from the deepest): a two foot layer of compacted clay, a synthetic plastic liner, a geo-textile protective fabric, and a pipe and two feet of gravel or tire chips which form the leachate collection system. Protective layers are also put down on top of the trash when the excavated area is filled. Vegetation is then grown over the top of the covered trash piles. When completed, a filled landfill looks like a grassy hill. See Picture 1 below. Rain caps, which include large tarps, direct rainwater away from trash and towards a stormwater holding basin. Sediment is allowed to settle out over time, and when the water’s clarity is good enough, it is released into a tributary of the North Dry Sac River. Monthly samples are taken of this stormwater, in addition to sample sites up and downstream from the entry site of the stormwater into the tributary. See Pictures 2 and 3. Methane is produced at the landfill through the decomposition. Methane is a toxic, odorless gas that must be disposed of before it builds up in the landfill. Pipes conduct methane towards a giant vertical pipe that burns the methane according to standards set by the EPA. This structure is called “the flamer” and sends a fiery red torch about 10 feet high into the air. For more information, visit http://www.ci.springfield.mo.us/community/recycling/landfill. In order to reduce the amount of your trash that is delivered to the landfill, you can recycle materials like paper, plastic, tin, aluminum, and glass. For more information on recycling, visit http://www.ci.springfield.mo.us/community/recycling/index.html.
Plants along a river banks are called riparian vegetation. These plants slow the flow of runoff into streams, which reduces erosion on stream banks. Riparian vegetation allows more water to infiltrate the soil before entering the stream, serving as a filter of pollutants. Riding all-terrain vehicles, such as four-wheelers or three-wheelers, through a stream can be harmful to the water quality and habitat of a stream. ATVs, when ridden along the banks of a river or stream, can increase the rate of erosion by removing vegetation and soil from the banks. In addition, disturbance of the gravel on the river bottom can eliminate habitat for small animals such as insect larvae and mussels that use the spaces between pebbles as a refuge. Insect larvae serve as food for larger animals, and elimination of their habitat can have effects that are felt higher up in the food chain. Urban land use and Stormwater Runoff Many urban areas contain parking lots, buildings, paved drainage ditches, and other areas that do not allow water to infiltrate into the soil. These areas are termed “impervious surfaces”. When a large percentage of the land in a watershed is covered by impervious surfaces, pollution can run into our rivers and lakes very quickly. Rainwater can move very fast across impervious surfaces, picking up soil and pollutants along the way, and eventually flowing into area lakes and streams. Impervious surfaces also restrict rainwater from sinking into the ground after a storm and can reduce the level of the groundwater and increase flooding. Reduction in level of the groundwater table can also result in drying of small rivers and streams that rely on input from groundwater during low flow periods. Pollutants from urban areas include metals, gasoline, paint, oil, and other chemicals. Weed sprays, bug sprays, and fertilizers from yards and gardens, bacteria from animal and human wastes, and soil from homes, construction sites, and landscaping, are all pollutants that can harm a stream. Heat can be a pollutant too. When rainwater falls on impervious surfaces like concrete and pavement, the water is warmed up. When the warm water reaches the stream, this can put stress on the plants and animals living in the stream. Some fish, like trout, require cool water to live and can not survive in unusually warm water. Several things are being done to reduce polluted runoff from cities and towns. They are called Best Management Practices (BMP’s). They include the following:
In Springfield, the Division of Stormwater Services is in charge of stormwater runoff. Their top responsibilities include the following:
To visit the city of Springfield’s
Stormwater Services webpage, visit the links at
http://www.ci.springfield.mo.us/egov/publicworks/storm_water/
and A list of facilities in the Sac River Basin that have toxic release inventories can be found at the following link: http://www.conservation.mo.gov/fish/watershed/sac/watqual/340wqt10.htm. A list of facilities that are involved with hazardous wastes in the Sac River Basin can be found at: http://www.conservation.mo.gov/fish/watershed/sac/watqual/340wqt11.htm. A list of facilities with airborne emissions in the Sac River Basin can be found at: http://www.conservation.mo.gov/fish/watershed/sac/watqual/340wqt12.htm. Years before we were aware of the harm that hazardous wastes caused the environment, businesses disposed of these materials by either burying them or placing them directly onto the ground. As research showed the hazards of this practice, the EPA began to fund cleanup of these disposal sites. This program is called the Superfund program. More information can be found at the EPA’s Superfund site: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/index.htm A list of inactive superfund sites in the Sac River Basin can be found at: http://www.conservation.mo.gov/fish/watershed/sac/watqual/340wqt13.htm. Gravel Mining When rushing water flows over the rocks in a stream, the rocks are slowly worn away. Eventually, pebbles and gravel are formed from larger rocks. After some time, sand will form from the constant running of the water across the rock’s surface. In the past 150 years the amount of gravel and sand has increased in Missouri streams. When land was cleared for farms and towns, plants were removed from stream banks resulting in an increase run off from the land and increased erosion. Gravel is required to construct roads, sidewalks, and gardens. When people get gravel from a dry streambed, this is called gravel mining. Sometimes gravel removal from a stream is done incorrectly and can alter the stream flow destroying plants and animal habitat. The Missouri Department of Conservation and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources provide education and information to cities, businesses, and landowners about proper gravel removal from streams. Gravel removal from streams requires permits. Some rules that the MDC give for removing gravel from a stream are:
Gravel Mining in the Sac River
Basin Mines Mining Areas in the Sac River Basin
Source: Missouri Department of Conservation, available at http://www.conservation.mo.gov/fish/watershed/sac/watqual/340wqt15.htm. |
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Page last updated August 26, 2008 |
