Earth Day Cleanup on the James River

In 2022, James River Basin Partnership officially closed the book on our Wilsons’ Creek 319 Nonpoint Source (NPS) Grant project, which focused on the largely urban Wilson’s Creek sub-watershed in southwestern Greene County.

The Wilson’s Creek implantation project ran from 2017 to 2022, and included tree planting, streambank stabilization & restoration along Wilson’s and Fassnight Creek, as well as numerous outreach and education programs to residents.

Over the past year, we have been preparing a new 319 Implementation Grant for the Upper James subwatershed, from Lake Springfield Dam to the headwaters of the James in Greene and Webster counties.

The 319 Grant funds are awarded by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to address NPS pollution through remediation and protection projects.

The James is a primary source of public drinking water for Springfield. The Blackman water intake is located on the James, just downstream of its confluence with Pearson Creek. On any given day, as much as 40% of the city’s drinking water comes from the James.

Historically, land in this area has largely been used for agriculture, except in urban and urbanizing areas around Springfield, Rogersville, and Seymour. The area north and south of Seymour contains a large Amish & Mennonite community.

The area east of Springfield on the Greene-Webster County line contain some of the oldest European settlements in the area, including lead mining activity along Pearson Creek, which is noted in the writings of explorer Henry Schoolcraft during his expedition to the Ozarks in 1818-19.

Today, Pearson Creek is listed on the state’s impaired waters list due to high levels of E.coli bacteria, as well as the loss of macroinvertebrate diversity. Macroinvertebrates, large enough to be seen with the naked eye and not having a backbone, are the proverbial “canary in a coal mine” when it comes to detecting pollution in our streams and rivers.

The grant will focus on both urban and rural areas to reduce sediment, nutrients (such as nitrogen and phosphorus), and bacteria stream pollutants by implementing a range of best management practices (BMPs).

Some BMPs like riparian buffer protection and enhancement will be implemented in both urban and rural areas of the watershed, along with conservation easements.

Septic tank pump-outs will also be priority for both areas, given the porous karst terrain of the Ozarks. Failing septic systems are a significant threat to both surface and groundwater quality since they can cause nutrients and bacteria to spread easily through karst’s “Swiss Cheese” rock.

For agricultural producers, JRBP will be providing information and cost-share incentives that promote managed grazing and alternative watering systems for cattle. We will be closely working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in both Greene and Webster Counties through a series of grazing schools and field days highlighting agricultural BMPs.

In urban areas, we will be working with partners such as the City of Springfield to enhance and retrofit stormwater detention basins, as well as protecting waterways within urbanizing areas.

Additionally, we’ll also be providing education and outreach to watershed residents through public field days, social media, newsletters, brochures, and signage, and our annual Earth Day cleanup at Lake Springfield.

To learn more, please visit our website, www. jamesriverbasin.com, and follow us on social media @ JamesRiverBasin.

We’re excited to have this opportunity to work with our friends and neighbors in the Upper James in our mission to preserve and protect water quality in the Ozarks.

We’ll see you on the river.

Todd Wilkinson