(2015) South Creek - Water Quality Monitoring
Scope
The City of Springfield implemented a Section 319 Grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency Region VII designed to reduce nonpoint source pollution in South Creek located in Springfield. This project was completed in 2015 and consisted of the removal of the concrete low-flow channel between Campbell Ave. and Kansas Expressway, replacement of it with natural substrate, and the reintroduction of meanders to the channel design with the goal of improving aquatic habitat and water quality.
South Creek is a sub-watershed of Wilson Creek, which has a long history of water quality degradation from a variety of point and nonpoint pollution sources associated with urban development. Projects that attempt to reintroduce natural channel form and function to an urbanized stream have shown improvement in both water quality and biological conditions compared to the typical altered urban stream.
In 2014-2015, pre-construction water quality monitoring was implemented to quantify the existing load prior to the installation of the new channel design. This project was designed to collect water samples at the same locations as the pre-construction water quality monitoring study to compare loads nearly four years after the installation of the new channel design. The Ozarks Environmental and Water Resources Institute (OEWRI) at Missouri State University has been contracted to perform the water quality monitoring component of this project. The purpose of this study is to determine nonpoint source loads under present channel conditions for which to compare with pre-project sampling to assess load reduction along South Creek at Kansas Expressway (KAN) and Campbell Avenue (CAM).
Objectives
- Collect field-based temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and specific conductivity and water quality samples to be analyzed in the laboratory for total phosphorus, total nitrogen, total suspended sediment, chloride, and E. coli concentrations at equally spaced stream locations throughout the study reach
- Base flow samples will be collected along South Creek at Campbell Avenue and Kansas Expressway once and month for a year.
- Storm samples will be collected for at least five storm events per year will be sampled from 1-2 times per event at each site
Documents
Funding
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
United States Environmental Protection Agency - Region VII
