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Mark Twain Watershed
Management of the project is being directed out of the Macon Water Quality Project Office and by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) State Office. Technical specialists from the NRCS State Office, the University of Missouri Columbia (UMC), Extension Service (ES), Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) are also available to provide technical expertise. The project funds are supporting technical assistance personnel above the customary staffing level and water quality monitoring.
The Mark Twain project is located in northeast Missouri. The area, approximately 630 square miles (404,800 acres), includes all of the drainage area of the Crooked, Otter and North Fork tributaries located within the hydrologic or political boundaries of Knox, Monroe and Shelby counties that empty into Mark Twain Lake. --Upland and bottom lands of the basin are intensively cropped. Agricultural land comprises 55 percent of the project area's land use and is the number one industry in the basin. Soybeans, corn, wheat and other feed grains and forage crops are the major crops grown in the basin, and agricultural chemicals and pesticides are used extensively throughout the area.-
The basin is also a major hog producing region, with Shelby and Monroe Counties in the top ten of hog producing counties in Missouri. More than 300 swine facilities are in operation with an additional 100 dairy and beef operations in existence. Animal waste produced has a human population equivalent of 144,500.
Soil erosion and rainfall runoff are the major hazards on about 80% of the cropland and pasture in the project area. Sediments are a problem, in that, they carry nutrients and chemicals attached to the clay/silt fractions which are deposited in the lakes and stream courses of the project area.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Project goals are to demonstrate and evaluate the effectiveness of total resource management plans (TRPM's) in addressing the resource problems within the area and provide technical assistance for the installation of animal waste systems . Plans utilizing an interdisciplinary team are being developed and installed to assist in reducing the quantities of sediment and chemical pollutants (nutrients and pesticides) entering the water body system and being deposited in public drinking water supply reservoirs within the project area and to Mark Twain Lake at the mouth of the project area. Another major goal is to finalize the training of 16 NRCS field personnel in the formulation and implementation of nutrient/pesticides' strategies, as part of the TRMP process. Three areas of training needed by NRCS personnel include crop/nutrient, soil fertility, and integrated pest management. The training is being accomplished utilizing existing Extension In-service Education (ISE) programs, Certified Crop Advisory (CCA) classes, and Integrated Crop Management (ICM) course curriculum. This will give NRCS the base of expertise necessary to provide additional training to field personnel throughout the state for future planning activities.
PRODUCTS AND OBJECTIVES
Evaluation of project activities is accomplished by periodic meetings of the training advisory committee, and local, state, and private industry participants. Educational/informational needs, cooperator recruitment, and the monitoring program are reviewed, evaluated, and revisions made as necessary. A quarterly progress report, as a minimum, to MDNR summarizes project progress of revisions necessary to meet project objectives.
Project Period: January 1, 1993--December 31, 1997
PROJECT SPONSOR
USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service
COOPERATING AGENCY
EPA/DNR
CONTACT
The Mark Twain Water Quality Initiative
28898 US Highway 63
Macon, MO 63552-9587
Telephone: 816-385-6359
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