Before I get into this week's article, I would like to encourage everyone on Facebook to "LIKE" the Ozarks Water Watch Facebook page. On there I post all the water quality news and current events I can find especially as they pertain to the Upper White River Basin. You can find the link to our Facebook page on our website.

Last Friday I attended Missouri Congressman Long's Ag Tour. Also attending was Ozarks Water Watch's new Administrative Assistant and Projects Manager Ronna Haxby. When  I am on any tour, I naturally look at things through "water quality" shaded glasses. So let's take a photo journey of Friday's Ag Tour.

Primatara Farms is a 350 acre farm raising Thoroughbred race horses. From the farm, the horses are sent to Kentucky for breeding.

The floor of the stalls are a pervious pavement that allows the liquid waste to seep through the floor and into the soil allowing for treatment.

Our next stop was the Reckitt-Benckiser manufacturing facility in Springfield. We were not allowed to take pictures on the tour of the plant but I will say I am not sure I have ever seen a cleaner or safer facility.

Since we couldn't take pictures, I borrowed this one from the web. Every bottle of French's mustard sold worldwide is made in Springfield, Missouri! Mustard seeds arrive by train. They were also processing, cooking and packaging onion rings. I was tempted to scoop up and eat a hand full. They sure smelled good!. They use millions of pounds of onions each year in their operation.

Our lunch consisted of fried green tomatoes, brisket, pork and milk all produced by the college's ag operation. And it was good! At the College of the Ozarks, the students are all required to work a minimum of 15 hours a week to earn their tuition which is how the college got the name "Hard Work U".

Ozarks Water Watch's new employee, Ronna Haxby listens to our guide as she tours the College of the Ozarks' milking facility.

Congressman Long and I listen as we learn about the cattle barn operation.

Liquid waste and wash water from the milking barn and the cattle barn are collected in large aerated tanks and then land applied as fertilizer to the pastures. By applying during dry periods, the nutrients soak into the soil where needed instead of running off into the waterways.

Congressman Long listens as a College of the Ozarks student explains the feed mill operation. Here the feed is mixed and supplied to the various animal operations on campus.

The next stop on our tour was the Mountain Springs Trout Farm near Highlandville. 

The farm raises trout from fingerlings and allows the public for a fee to catch the fish. They will even clean and package the trout so you can enjoy fresh fish at home.

The cool clear 57 degree water is supplied by the Montague Spring.

Our last stop on the tour was the Greenworks Wholesale Nursery also in Highlandville.

The plants are grown in  plastic containers and set on plastic sheeting. Under the sheeting is a series of piping. During our hot 100 degree plus days the plants were watered 22 hours a day using overhead sprinklers with 80% of the runnoff collected and sent to a holding pond to be re-used greatly reducing the water usage from the well. While the business is primarily wholesale, they also sell to the retail customer.

We then returned to our point of departure at the Christopher S. Bond Learning Center at the Missouri State University William H. Darr Agricultural Center for an "Agricultural Appreciation Dinner" fish fry sponsored by the Missouri Farm Bureau. And, no, we did not eat any trout caught on the tour, just good ole catfish! I would like to express my appreciation to Congressman Long for hosting this tour. I am always amazed by the fantastic local businesses we have in our area.

David and Diane on the James River.

While this was not part of the Ag Tour, on Saturday my family loaded up our canoes for a leisurely float down the James River. On Labor Day Monday we have more family coming to our house for a fun day on Table Rock Lake. We are so blessed to live in the Ozarks!

Quote of the Week

"In the long term, economic sustainability depends on ecological sustainability."

- "America's Living Oceans"  [Pew Oceans Report, 2003]

Current News Articles

By Chad Garrison Tue., Aug. 30 2011 at 10:50 AM

Categories: Environment, News

 

The U.S. Geological Survey yesterday put out a press release warning of the increasing observations of glyphosate in water and air within the Mississippi River Basin.  

Glyphosate is sold under the trademark of Roundup, a best-selling herbicide for St. Louis-based Monsanto. The USGS says that the use of Roundup in U.S. agriculture has increased eight-fold over the past two decades, from 11,000 tons in 1992 to 88,000 tons in 2007.

As its use has increased, so too has the places where its remnants can be found in water and soil. However, what impact that could have on the environment remains unknown, says Paul Capel, head of the agricultural chemical study team for the USGS.

"The concern is the unknown impact that this chemical could cause," says Capel, who notes that while deadly to plants, glyphosate has little toxicity to people people and animals. "We now know it's out there and the job now is to monitor what significance -- if any -- it has on the environment." (more)  

To read more, Click HERE.

The violation deals with the Clean Water Act

by Jay Scherder, KY3 News jscherder@ky3.com

5:16 p.m. CDT, August 30, 2011

RIDGEDALE, Mo. -- Vocal opposition from neighbors, public criticism from Bass Pro Shops owner Johnny Morris and planning and zoning issues -- the proposed racetrack complex near Branson Airport keeps hitting speed bumps.  The latest to go up is from a federal agency.  The developers, however, say they are keeping the pedal to the metal. "I've been involved in a lot of large projects in my life, and there are problems," said Branson Sports Entertainment Complex Director of Development and Construction Tom Gammon.

Work on the proposed Taney County racetrack is at a standstill but the project is still moving forward. "I've built enough buildings and developed enough to know that there are going to be things that crop up that we didn't anticipate, and we'll deal with those as we come," Gammon said. 

One of those hiccups came from the Department of Natural Resources last February. "Grading -- we were inside the permit area, but we cleared some outside of it," said Gammon.

The developers applied for a permit, gained one and moved on.  Then, in July, MDNR sent the developers a letter that said they'd disturbed more land than they were permitted to disturb, and ordered them to apply for a permit to disturb a larger area.  Now, another hiccup arose -- this time from the Army Corps of Engineers.

"It's a violation of section 404 of the Clean Water Act.  The Corps regulates putting in any fill in streams or wetlands," said Rocky Presley, project manager of the Corps' local Regulatory Division.
(more)

To read more, click HERE.

Fracking's water use draws attention, concerns  

August 30, 2011 

WYSOX, Pa. - The Marcellus Shale natural gas industry has a huge thirst for water - to hydraulically fracture a single gas well requires upward of a thousand tanker-trucks of water. 

And so during the summer, when some streams here in gas-rich northern Pennsylvania naturally turn into trickles, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission pays close attention to ensure that drilling interests don't suck the state's creeks dry.

The SRBC, an interstate agency responsible for managing the Susquehanna watershed, this summer has suspended withdrawals from as many as 40 permitted locations because of seasonal low flows. Most of the suspended locations affect gas drillers.

But the shale-gas industry, now moving rapidly from an exploratory to a production phase, has hardly missed a beat. Fracking continues, largely unabated.

The commission allows drillers to withdraw up to 98 million gallons per day at 142 locations, though in reality, the industry uses far less than what it is allowed, the SRBC says. The permitted amounts are based on elaborate computations tied to historical stream flows. When stream levels fall below a certain level, withdrawals must stop.

Anticipating the seasonal fluctuations, natural gas operators have built vast networks of impoundments - plastic-lined ponds - to store water from the rainy seasons.

"The natural gas industry is trying to capture some of the large spring flows because they know they can't take water all summer," said Paula Ballaron, the SRBC's manager of policy implementation and outreach. (more)

To read more, Click: HERE.