Protecting Our Water

Environmental Services Program

Protecting Our Water

The Water Quality Monitoring Section is responsible for assessing the biological health of Missouri’s rivers and streams, and monitoring water and sediment quality throughout the state. The section includes the aquatic biological assessment and water monitoring units. The section works in support of the Water Protection Program to ensure that Missourians will always have clean water for drinking, recreation, tourism and continued economic growth. Staff travel to all areas of the state conducting a variety of investigations. These investigations routinely include wastewater discharge monitoring, groundwater monitoring, electrofishing and stream surveys. The section often assists with special projects such as enforcement actions, environmental risk assessments or damage assessments resulting from chemical spills. The staff collects and evaluates a wide variety of water, sediment and macroinvertebrate samples. The results of these studies are used to make certain that the rivers, streams and lakes of Missouri remain a treasure for all to enjoy.

Aquatic Biological Monitoring Unit

Aquatic biological assessments are evaluations of the conditions of waterbodies using surveys and other direct measurements of residential biological organisms, such as macroinvertebrates, fish and plants. Biological assessment results are used to answer the question of whether waterbodies support the survival and reproduction of desirable fish, shellfish and other aquatic species.

Aquatic Biological Monitoring Unit FY2011 Accomplishments:

Conducted biological assessments and collected 70 biological samples from the following 15 streams:

Waterway	County	Waterway	County
Beef Branch	Newton	Tributary to Hickory Creek	Davies
Big Muddy Creek	Davies	Tributary to Mineral Fork	Washington
Blackberry Creek	Jasper	Tributary to no creek	Grundy
Cedar Creek	Boone, Callaway	Pond Creek	Washington
East. Fork Black River	Reynolds	Sandy Creek	Putnam
Jacobs Branch	Newton	Shibboleth Creek	Washington
Little Beaver Creek	Phelps	Taum Sauk Creek	Reynolds
Owl Branch	Grundy

A total of 111,959 macroinvertebrate taxa determinations were made in FY2011, bringing the total count in the database to 1.69 million since 1994. Staff members documented two taxa that were previously unknown in Missouri and are collaborating with Missouri Department of Conservation staff to publish these findings in a peer-reviewed journal.

Supported the Water Protection Program with biological, habitat, and sediment assessments of five 303(d) listed streams. Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act and Envrionmental Protection Agency regulation 40 CFR Section 130.7(d) (1) published in July 1992, requires each state to submit a Total Maximum Daily Load Priority List to the Envrionmental Protection Agency.
Participated in workgroup to develop nutrient criteria for rivers and streams. Supported the Water Protection Program with nutrient criteria and the assessments of nutrient data from reference streams and statewide nutrient data for development of nutrient criteria for rivers and streams.
Supported the Water Protection Program with assessment of biological surveys collected by contractors to assess a facility’s temperature effect on Little Muddy Creek in Pettis County.
Continued to conduct intensive biological assessments to determine the long-term impact and recovery of the East Fork Black River from the catastrophic failure of the upper Taum Sauk Reservoir.
Supported the Water Protection Program with biological assessments of streams impacted by historical mining.
Supported the Water Protection Program with a biological assessment of Blackberry Creek, a receiving stream for Empire Electric’s Asbury Power Plant. In question, is whether the power plant’s cooling water, which has high concentrations of sulfates and chlorides, is negatively affecting the Blackberry Creek aquatic community.

Aquatic Biological Monitoring Unit FY2010 Accomplishments

Biological Assessment Stream Locations for FY2010

Water Quality Monitoring Unit

Water Quality Monitoring Unit FY2011 Accomplishments:

Completed quality assurance audits at 20 solid waste landfills that included both groundwater and landfill gas monitoring from more than 70 monitoring locations.

Landfill	County
3M Nevada Special Landfill	Vernon
Farmers Stone Products Landfill	Livingston
Lamar Sanitary Landfill	Barton
Missouri Pass Sanitary Landfill	St. Louis
City of Fulton Sanitary Landfill	Callaway
Jefferson City Sanitary Landfill	Cole
Moberly Landfill	Randolph
Veolia Maple Hill	Macon
Prairie View Landfill	Barton
St. Joseph Sanitary Landfill	Buchanan
Bridgeton (Westlake) Sanitary Landfill	St. Louis
Centropolis Sanitary Landfill	Jackson
Ellis Scott Sanitary Landfill	Henry
Fred Weber Sanitary Landfill	St. Louis
Veolia Oak Ridge Sanitary Landfill	St. Louis
Lee’s Summit Sanitary Landfill	Jackson
Peerless Park Demolition Landfill	St. Louis
Renfro Sanitary Landfill	Stone
Struckhoff Sanitary Landfill (City of Washington)	Franklin

Collected 40 fish tissue samples from 26 sites on Missouri lakes and streams to determine contaminant levels in the fish tissue. The data collected is shared with the Envrionmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services for determination of human health advisories and for monitoring trends in contaminant levels.

Waterway	County	Waterway	County
Black River	Butler	Hunnewell Lake	Shelby
Bourbeuse River	Franklin	Indian Hill Lake	Crawford
Flat River Creek	St. Francois	Missouri Electric Pond	Cape Girardeau
Little Dry Fork	Phelps	Norfork Lake	Ozark
Little River Ditches	Dunklin	Palmer Lake	Washington
Meramec River	St. Louis	Parole Lake	Washington
Muddy Creek	Pettis	Pim Lake	St. Francois
St. John’s Ditch	New Madrid	Pomme de Terre Lake	Hickory
Bull Shoals Lake	Ozark	Prairie Lake	St. Charles
Fellows Lake	Greene	Thomas Hill Lake	Macon
Rinquelin Trail Lake	Maries	Wakonda Lake	Lewis
Forest Hill Country Club Lake	Boone	Bethany Reservoir	Harrison
Hulen Lake	Boone	Knox Village Lake	Jackson

Finished the final phase of the five-year monitoring survey of Lake Ozark for E.coli during the summer recreational season. This project utilized a large group of volunteers from the Lake Ozark Watershed Alliance who conducted the actual water sampling on a monthly basis. Staff provided the training, supplies and analyses. Approximately 300 samples were collected and analyzed in FY2011.
Map of Lake Ozark Sites.
Provided technical assistance to the department’s Criminal Investigation Unit on several cases under their review. In this capacity scientific instruments were set up and calibrated for deployment. Data collected may be used by the investigators as evidence or to support various enforcement cases.
Performed compliance sampling at more than 87 wastewater treatment facilities across the state to ensure compliance with permit requirements. Approximately 150 effluent samples were collected.
Conducted four waste load allocation surveys on streams receiving effluent from the communities of Windsor Southwest lagoon, Ashland lagoon south, Humansville, Lamar Wastewater Treatment Plant, and Bethany Wastewater Treatment Plant. A total of 239 water samples were collected in conjunction with this effort.
Performed ambient stream sediment monitoring from 10 sites around the state to determine if the level of metals present are sufficient to cause toxicity.
- Mill Creek, just above Shibboleth Creek, Washington County.
- Pond Creek at Pond Creek Road, Washington County.
- Shibboleth Creek, North Tiff, Washington County.
- Shibboleth Creek,North Hwy E, Washington County.
- Turkey Creek, below Bonne Terre chat pile, St. Francois County.
- Logan Creek, below Sweetwater Mine at Hwy B, Reynolds County.
- Mineral Fork, just above Old Mines Creek, Washington County.
Wakonda State Park Sampling - At each of the following sites, one composite sample, consisting of at least four subsamples, one from each quadrant of the lake, was collected. Samples were composed of medium-sized sand particles or smaller. During sieving, staff captured and bagged any lead shot, which was used for estimating the amount in each lake.
- Wakonda Lake
- Agate Lake
- Jasper Lake
Provided weekly E.coli analysis of water samples collected from 20 swimming areas located in the department’s state parks during the recreation season. Staff completed more than 580 analyses. Swimming areas and sampling results are available at http://mostateparks.com/beaches/.

State Park Swimming Area	State Park Swimming Area
Mark Twain – public beach	Pomme de Terre – Hermitage
Crowder – public beach	Pomme de Terre – Pittsburg
Cuivre River	St. Joe – Monsanto
Finger Lakes	St. Joe – Pim
Lake Ozarks #1	Stockton
Lake Ozarks #2	Thousand Hills
Lake Wappapello	Trail of Tears
Lewis and Clark	Truman - public beach
Long Branch	Truman - campground
Watkins Mill	Wakonda

Monitored approximately 30 streams on a quarterly basis to assess nutrient levels across the state and collected approximately 148 samples d in this effort. The data is used by the Water Protection Program in developing nutrient criteria for inclusion into the water quality standards. Streams monitored for nutrients include:

Waterway	County	Waterway	County
WestLocust Creek	Sullivan County	Lost Creek	DeKalb County
EastLocust Creek	Sullivan County	Maple Slough	Mississippi County
North Blackbird Creek	Putnam County	North Fork, South Fabius River	Knox County
Shoal Creek	Putnam County	Spencer Creek	Ralls County
Salt Creek	Chariton County	Barren Fork	Ozark County
Sugar Creek	Harrison County	Burris Fork	Moniteau County
Grindstone Creek	Davies County	Deer Creek	Benton County
West Fork Yellow Creek	Linn County	Cedar Creek	Benton County
East Fork Yellow Creek	Linn County	Horse Creek	Cedar County
Charette Creek	Wayne County	Little Maries Creek	Maries County
Otter Creek	Wayne County	Petite Saline Creek	Cooper County
Brush Creek	Macon County	Pomme de Terre River	Polk County
Lower Bourbeuse River	Maries County	Richland Creek	Morgan County
Lower North Fork Spring River	Jasper County	Saline Creek	Miller County
Spring Creek	Douglas County

Performed five field audits of department staff that regularly collect environmental samples. Field audits validate sample collection methods and technique, checks documentation of proper sample chain of custodies, and sample labeling.
Conducted and coordinated quality assurance and quality control of field meters.
Conducted updates of standard operating procedures to ensure procedures for all water quality sampling activities in the department are current.

Water Quality Monitoring Unit FY2010 Accomplishments

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