Water Watch Week - Something for everyone!
 

David Casaletto

I would like to thank Ozarks Water Watch Board Member and former Executive Director, Dr. John Moore for the great newsletter article last week detailing all the activities of Water Watch Week! John has been the driving force behind the Water Watch Week effort. After 3 years of hard work and dedication to our organization as Executive Director, John graciously agreed to again come out of retirement and lead the Water Watch Week effort! John, thank you for all your hard work and miles driven to make Water Watch Week the great event we now have.

 Water Watch Week Chairman Dr. John Moore

I personally plan to attend as many Water Watch Week events as I possibly can but on kickoff day, June 11th, I will have to miss the James River Rescue and the Family Fishing Fair at the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery. I will be in Southeast Kansas with my family celebrating my mom and dad's 60th wedding anniversary. I grew up in southeast Kansas just a short drive from Joplin, MO. Joplin was where our family would go out to eat or to a movie when our children were young. In fact, we would celebrate their grade school report card achievements with a trip to a Mexican restaurant on south Rangeline in Joplin. While that restaurant went out of business years ago, I am fairly certain the building is now no longer standing either. I know all our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Joplin. The overwhelming show of support to the tornado victims in Joplin in the form of volunteers, supplies and cash is a testimony to why it is great to live in the Ozarks. It truly is a sense of family.

After the anniversary party, I will hurry back for the unique Lake Taneycomo Bass/Trout Fishing Tournament on Sunday, June 12th. Thanks to Lilleys Landing and Bass Pro Shops for their sponsorships! During the week of June 13th there will be educational events featuring Onsite Wastewater Systems, Stream Environments and a Geology Field Trip culminating with a Water Quality Summit on Friday, June 17th at Drury University. The keynote speaker at the summit will be the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Director Sara Parker Pauley. Following Sara will be a presentation on Water Quality Monitoring by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), updates from local water quality organizations, an awards luncheon, I will be speaking on Low Impact Development (LID) at 1 pm and to wrap up the summit, Gopala Borchelt, Executive Director of Table Rock Lake Water Quality will talk about their current 319 grant called Lake Smart Living. Everyone is invited to attend the summit for only $10 and that includes lunch! Sign up early as space will be limited! On Saturday, June 18th there will be a cleanup of the Lower James River. The Table Rock Lake Volunteer Appreciation originally scheduled for that Saturday at Joe Bald Park has been rescheduled due to high water to July 2nd and will be held at Kimberling City in conjunction with the Fire Burst event. The final event of Water Watch Week is the Golf Classic on Tuesday, June 21st sponsored by Ozarks Water Watch and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. For complete details on all Water Watch Week events including contact and registration information just CLICK HERE.

As I indicated, my topic for the June 17^th Water Quality Summit will be Low Impact Development (LID Design Manual on left). While I have heard the term LID for many years, I really did not understand it. But the concept is really very simple. For years, engineers and municipal codes have said the way to deal with storm water runoff is to transport the water via a series of pipes, ditches, manmade streams, etc. as fast as possible to the nearest stream, river or lake. So this first "flush" of water during a rain event pickups all the pollutants such as oil, grease, bacteria, nutrients and many, many other chemicals and deposits them along with the water untreated in that nearest water body. With LID, you design the building and property to allow the rain water to stay where it falls so it can soak in. That allows nature to use the soil to filter and clean the water. With some simple LID facilities such as green roofs, rain gardens, pervious pavement, and infiltration basins, you can easily design a site that allows ALL the water from a 1" rain event to stay on the site. I invite you to learn more about LID and other water quality information by attending the June 17^th summit and all the Water Watch Week events!

Demonstration of pervious pavement

In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the victim of his indifference.

- Rachel Carlson

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Missouri University of Science & Technology, May 24, 2011

For decades, it was routine for dry-cleaning operations to pour chemicals down the drain. Unfortunately, some of those chemicals ended up contaminating groundwater.

And that's what happened years ago at the Busy Bee laundry facility in Rolla. But, thanks to the efforts of Erica Collins and others, a comprehensive clean-up is under way. To read more...

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