Its Spring! Time for Table Rock Lake Shoreline Cleanup!

During my 10 years with Table Rock Lake Water Quality, the highlight of the year was always Table Rock Lake Shoreline Cleanup! Early on we decided it would be the first Saturday in April, even if that happened to be Easter weekend as it is again this year. In the early days Gail would have the phone glued to her ear looking for team captains, sponsors and information on where the trash was located.

Every volunteer gets a t-shirt but Gail would only give you one AFTER you cleaned up!

In the early days, tons of styrofoam were removed!

When we started shoreline cleanup, private docks could still use white foam for flotation and some dock builders (now out of business) seemed to let quite a bit of foam just float away so we spent much of our time just on foam. One year we filled over 4 large rolloff dumpsters with foam just at the Kimberling City bridge!

Abandoned homemade houseboat on the shoreline.

Abandoned houseboat hauled in pieces by boat, transferred to a trailer then thrown in the dumster.

The dedication and hard work of the volunteers never ceases to amaze me. When I moved to the lake in 1999 there was an abandoned houseboat just sitting on the shoreline. The neighbors said it had been there for many years. Then one year, a group of volunteers told me they were going to tackle that project. They spent 3 days tearing it apart, hauling it over the rocks to their pontoon boat, transferring it to flatbed trailers, then driving it to the dumpsters where they then had to throw it in the dumpsters! They would get my cleanup volunteer

award for going the extra mile.

David's daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law.

Madison called this her "Papa Shirt".

When my first granddaughter came along, she became the youngest shoreline cleanup volunteer. She is now 6 years old, but she still asks if it is time to cleanup yet.

Hundreds of teams and 1000's of volunteers clean each year.

The magnitude and sheer volume of trash picked up over the last 10 years is staggering. And why people throw appliances, couches, and shower stalls in the lake is beyond me.

A "lake" couch heads for the dumpster.

Ozarks Water Watch Projects Manager, Ronna Haxby (left).

I took the above picture in 2003. Ronna Haxby and her husband Ray Jones were the top styrofoam volunteers. They would relentlessly hunt down and bring in styrofoam every year. Little did Ronna know back in 2003 that in 2011 she would become Projects Manager for Ozarks Water Watch!

Excited volunteers.

I would like to give a big thank you to all the volunteers that have kept the shoreline clean. On Saturday, April 7, 2012 I will be with my granddaughter and family cleaning up the shoreline. In years past I had to be at the office making sure things were going smoothly but now the torch has been passed to Gopala, Tammy, Nina and Mary who do an outstanding job at Table Rock Lake Water Quality. To view more photos of Shoreline Cleanup over the years, click HERE. For more information or to volunteer for Shoreline Cleanup, click HERE.

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Quote of the Week

"When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still to come."

- Leonardo da Vinci

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Groups sue EPA to cut Mississippi River Basin Pollution

Jeffry Tomich, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

March 15, 2012

A coalition of environmental groups is suing the federal government to force reductions in nutrient pollution that's fouling the Mississippi River and its tributaries and feeding a massive "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. The groups, which include the St. Louis-based Missouri Coalition for the Environment, filed two lawsuits Tuesday against the Environmental Protection Agency.

One lawsuit would require the EPA to use its powers under the federal Clean Water Act to establish specific limits on the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous in streams, rivers and lakes. The other seeks to force the agency to update wastewater treatment standards for the first time since 1985. "We've known about the many problems associated with nutrient pollution for a long time," said Glynnis Collins, executive director of the Illinois-based Prairie Rivers Network. "But action to address it has been too slow."

Both lawsuits are an effort to prod the EPA to clamp down on excessive nitrogen and phosphorous pollution in waterways nationwide. The focus is the Mississippi River Basin, where nutrient runoff from farms and cities gets funneled to the Gulf of Mexico and feeds algae growth, depletes oxygen levels and kills aquatic life.

To read more, Click: HERE.

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New National Water Trails System to Promote Healthy, Accessible Rivers

Press Release, Washington, D.C.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today unveiled the National Water Trails System, a new network that will increase access to water-based outdoor recreation, encourage community stewardship of local waterways, and promote tourism that fuels local economies across America.

Today's announcement comes in advance of Friday's White House Conference on Conservation hosted by the Department of the Interior. The conference will spotlight community-driven conservation efforts as part of President Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative.

"Rivers, lakes, and other waterways are the lifeblood of our communities, connecting us to our environment, our culture, our economy, and our way of life," Salazar said. "The new National Water Trail System will help fulfill President Obama's vision for healthy and accessible rivers as we work to restore and conserve our nation's treasured waterways."

Secretary Salazar signed a Secretarial Order that establishes national water trails as a class of national recreational trails under the National Trails System Act of 1968. The order sets the framework for Secretarial designation of water trails that will help facilitate outdoor recreation on waterways in and around urban areas, and provide national recognition and resources to existing, local water trails.

To read more, Click HERE.

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Volunteers Target Streamside Project

By Joel Walsh, NWA Online

Posted: March 11, 2012 at 5:16 a.m

More than 50 volunteers built some muscle, got some sun and planted some 500 seedlings along the banks of Scull Creek in north Fayetteville on Saturday. They were one of six groups across Northwest Arkansas and northeast Oklahoma that took part in the Illinois River Watershed Partnership's fifth annual "Riparian Project."

Delia Haak, the partnership's executive director, said Friday about 4,000 oaks, ashes, cypresses and loblolly pines were to be planted Saturday along area stream banks in an eft ort to protect and preserve water quality.

"Trees pick up excess nutrients that might be washing oft from urban and agricultural runoft ," Haak said. Riparian - or streamside - buffers also help fight erosion, she said. Trees stabilize soil, provide shade for aquatic life and make for good wildlife habitats. The trees came from the Arkansas Forestry Commission and were paid for by participating cities and a number of area businesses and community groups.

To read more, Click HERE.

Contact Info
OZARKS WATER WATCH MISSOURI OFFICE ARKANSAS OFFICE

David Casaletto, President PO Box 636, 2 Kissee Ave., Ste. C 1200 W. Walnut, Ste. 3405
(417) 739-5001 Kimberling City, MO 65686 Rogers, AR 72756

contact@ozarkswaterwatch.org