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Gasconade Resource Mgmt Demo Project (OSAGE FORK)
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Osage Fork Livestock Waste Management Project supports technical assistance for the Laclede County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) to provide a Resource Management Specialist and a Pumping Technician in the watershed. The specialist and technician are employed by the Laclede County SWCD and are stationed in the Lebanon, Missouri office.
Common uses for the streams within the Osage Fork watershed include: year-round recreational fishing, boating, swimming, and livestock and wildlife watering. The Gasconade River and nearby aquifers are used as a public drinking water supply by approximately 70,000 residents. Approximately 48,000 of those residents drink groundwater derived from bedrock aquifers, many of which are vulnerable to contamination due to their karst topography nature.
The 325,000 acre watershed contains approximately 250 dairies (totalling an estimated 36,000 dairy cows) and 36,000 head of beef cattle with 7% cropland, 33% forest, 50% pastureland, 7% urban/farmstead roads, 1% water and 2% public ownership.
Many acres of the pasture land are currently overgrazed, producing sediment runoff and resulting in deterioration of water quality and soil conditions. Excessive sediment runoff decreases the moisture available to plants for development, increases the sediment load, increases the contamination of surface water sources and decreases the holding capacity of surface water sources. This condition, when coupled with the karst nature of the Ozark region, makes the area highly vulnerable to surface and groundwater contamination. The Osage Fork watershed is home to the Bluestripe and Least Darters, among several other species, which are listed as either Rare, Endangered or on a Watch List.
PRODUCTS AND OBJECTIVES
1. Provide technical assistance (through outreach and demonstration) to area producers in planning for and implementing best management practices to reduce groundwater and surface water contamination.
2. Routinely monitor nutrients (N,P,K) and other nutrient levels in soils at designated waste application sites.
3. Routinely monitor nitrogen, dissolved oxygen and macroinvertebrates in area streams and springs at or near selected demonstrations sites.
4. Develop guidance materials recommending acceptable effluent application rates for nitrogen and phosphorus and related acceptable best management practices.
5. Survey landowners before and after demonstrations to determine effectiveness of project.
6. Monitor land use and how it will affect long-term management practices.
7. Reduce and control nutrient concentrations leaving the fields in surface runoff or by leaching to the groundwater resource.
The project will last from 1996 to 2001
PROJECT SPONSOR
Laclede County SWCD
COOPERATING AGENCY
EPA/DNR
CONTACT
Laclede County Soil and Water Conservation District
Route 6, Box 373C
1242 Deadra Dr. P.O. Box 1015
Lebanon, MO 65536
Mary Jo Tannehill
telephone: 417-532-6305
email: maryjo-tannehill@mo.necdnet.org
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