(2011) James River Basin - 319 Project
Scope
Christian County, Missouri is one of the fastest growing areas in the state. Water quality monitoring in urban and suburban residential areas is needed to better understand the role of urban areas as non-point sources of pollution contributing to the 303(d) listed James River. To date, few studies have addressed urban non-point pollution concerns in the James River Basin, thus our knowledge of storm water quality and the effectiveness of pollution reduction efforts is incomplete. In addition, karst hydrology is common throughout the region and thus presents a unique challenge in understanding and managing river and lake pollution problems as compared to other better studied basins in the nation.
A 319 non-point source grant was received by the James River Basin Partnership (JRBP) to address the lack of water quality information for runoff from residential developments in the Finley River, a major tributary to the James River. Christian County, located in the Finley River sub-basin of the James River, is one of the fastest growing areas in the state of Missouri with the cities of Nixa and Ozark growing substantially in the last two decades. The majority of this growth is residential subdivisions. This rapid growth rate, coupled with surface-to-groundwater connections in the karst terrain of the Ozarks, has raised concerns over pollution contributions from urban land use.
Objectives
- Document the effectiveness of urban best management practices (BMP's) aimed at reducing nonpoint sources in subdivision developments in the cities of Nixa and Ozark in Christian County, Missouri,
- Monitor pre-treatment and post treatment hydrology and water quality in three subdivisions (1 in Ozark and 2 in Nixa), and
- Compare subdivision treated by extensive water garden systems with subdivision treated with a bio-retention cell as a retrofit to an existing detention basin
Partners
Funding
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region VII -Section 319
