2nd National Extension Nat Res Conference-Abstract 11

William B. Kurtz, University of Missouri, 123 A-BNR, Columbia, MO 65211; 573.882.4567; kurtzw@missouri.edu; and Robert R. Broz, University of Missouri, 205 Agriculture Engineering, Columbia, MO 65211

The Missouri Watershed Initiative has been designed to help local communities develop answers to their local water quality problems. It is a process for formally integrating issue-directed interdisciplinary assessment, research and extension/outreach into local-level decision making regarding watershed land use and management. Four identifiable groups - a state-level advisory council, university teams, local steering committee, and local technical group - have key roles in directing and implementing the process to help create partnerships for local decision making regarding water quality that are consistent with the state?s long-term agricultural, economic, and environmental goals.

The 70,000-acre Long Branch Watershed in north central Missouri was selected as a pilot project area in 1998 to test the process for community involvement in watershed management and restoration. Its selection was based on the watershed?s and the lake?s complex water quality situation, recognizing the opportunity to act in a proactive mode to maintain and restore the integrity of the resource base through voluntary community / stakeholder efforts and involvement. A 15-member local steering committee comprised of representatives of different stakeholder groups was formed in November 1997, to identify water quality issues within the watershed boundaries and develop the strategy and action plan consistent with community and stakeholder expectations. Beginning in May 1998, a series of assessment projects were instituted to describe the biological, physical, and social characteristics of the Long Branch Lake and Watershed. These data gathering efforts have been completed and have been distributed to the local steering committee and the local technical group in an intensive educational effort. They are available on-line for planning at www.cares.missouri.edu/mwi. Two additional assessment efforts are just being initiated - development of an economic baseline for the watershed and using DNA to track the sources of e. coli contamination.

From the above studies, it has been determined that water quality shows a great deal of interannual variation, but has not changed consistently over time. Long Branch Lake is similar to many reservoirs in the glacial plains of north Missouri in that it is moderately fertile with high levels of suspended solids. River-borne sediments entering the lake are deposited in the upper arms with little material reaching the southern end at this time.

Two sets of demonstration projects presently are being initiated - one set demonstrating the benefits of a modern, on-site sewage disposal system for reducing household contamination of water bodies and the other demonstrating the benefits of stiff-grass hedges for erosion control on no-till cropland. Future plans call for several action steps to be taken - strategy and alternatives development, project implementation, and process evaluation. Initial resources will be provided through University of Missouri Outreach and Extension.