A water quality project uses a holistic approach to promote conservation practices.

How do you tackle water quality issues in a watershed that spans the better part of a state? Take a little bit at a time. That's the goal of the South Missouri Water Quality Project, a NRCS pilot program that is working to improve water quality in the Upper White River basin in the southern Ozarks.

Given it contains some of Missouri's most coveted recreational streams and lakes, water quality in the Upper White River watershed has been a high concern for a multitude of constituencies. And while better water quality is a goal for agriculture, tourism, and towns and cities in the swath of Missouri between Poplar Bluff and Cassville, these entities haven't always agreed on how to approach water quality problems.

"Our project focuses on the interconnections that are found in any watershed—the fact that farms, lawns, water and tourism are all a part of the same puzzle," said the project's team leader, Steve Hefner. "NRCS is a public service," he said. "We have to work with everyone."

The Upper White River basin covers some 7 million acres and 21 counties. It is easy to see that a variety of interests compete for input. NRCS has long been assisting with on-farm conservation, but with Springfield, Missouri's third largest city, and the state's most robust house building markets, any holistic approach to the watershed needs an urban and development component. "It's a watershed that is largely trees, grassland and development," said Hefner. "We've been fortunate in that we can use existing USDA staff for much of the agricultural needs, and we've hired a forester and urban conservationist to fill the gaps." These project employees focused on a mix of practical technical advice and education.

Check the grass

Clay Robertson, a veteran conservationist working with the project, said that moving conservation practices to town is a new application for an old technology. "We've been doing these things on crop and grasslands forever," he said.

A homeowner's crop is a lawn. And like any landowner, they have a notion of what their crop should be.

"We look at it as yield goals," said Robertson. "There are new developments that need to just get grass started. There are those who want a thicker stand and at the upper end of the yield goal—people have irrigation and maybe professional treatment of the lawn—they want a golf-course finish. And there are those in between who want good grass but won't spend much money."

So, like his more rural counterparts who do it for farmland, Robertson writes conservation plans for urban landowners. The goal is to prevent over application of nutrients; to help land owners learn proper application and maintenance.

"People don't really know what they need. They end up buying 'balanced' bags [of fertilizer]. If phosphorous and potassium is already at sufficient levels in the soil, they don't need to add it. But they still [buy it]," said Robertson.

"Forty percent of the plans we write don't call for any phosphorus—it's already adequate."

With what looks to be a long-term increase of development in the Springfield area and James River basin, keeping that extra phosphorous load out of streams is posed to be a real contributor to better water quality in the region.

Learn the connections

Another aspect of the South Missouri Water Quality Project is a focus on education. The effort is led by Mary Giles.

"NRCS has done a good job of outreach for the K-12 level," said Giles, "so I looked to see what audience wasn't getting served."

Then she addressed two separate audiences with one program. Giles partnered with Ozark Technical Community College to foster a program in which college English

Literature students write curriculum for pre-school audiences. Each student develops a story book and supporting activities that focus on the water cycle and physical properties of water. The students present their lessons in preschool and childcare facilities within the watershed. So far 17 OTC students have participated.

"It is gratifying to see the [OTC] students are happy to be working at something real, a real message and real lesson, not just for a grade. They put in so many hours on the books. It's like being published in a way."  The college students are glad to know the book will continue to be used.

Aside from enriching the children's education, the long term goal for Giles is that the citizens that are brought up and live in the area will have an appreciation for water quality and what it means to the region.

Farms contribute, too

With 7 million acres in the project area, farm-level conservation is an obvious need. Driving over the pasture of Stone County farmer, Billy Harris, Hefner said that working in such a large area can be a challenge.

"We feel like we're successful because we're working with people. Promoting these practices brings benefits even though they can be difficult to assess," he said.

Harris's pastureland borders the James River, a main tributary to Table Rock Lake. With cost share from  the local SWDC and NRCS, Harris implemented a management-intensive grazing system, fencing his livestock out of the James River. And with help from the South Missouri Water Quality Project's forester, Robert DeMoss, Harris has developed a riparian strip of native trees—burr oak, redbud, sycamore and white oak. Keeping the cows out of the stream reduces nutrient loads. The trees and vegetation around them will filter runoff and help hold the river's bank over time.

Development conservation

Adam Coulter, an urban conservationist, tackles what may seem to be an unconventional conservation challenge. He works with developers and cities to plan and execute conservation plans even in the midst of booming construction.

"Our job is to work with cities on growth management, to make sure that agricultural land is preserved, but understanding that development happens."

Coulter said that cities understand they contribute to degradation of water systems but addressing water quality is often more simple in the farm setting.

"With cities, you're dealing with concrete and infrastructure," he said. "These things can't be moved."

One of Coulter's recent efforts focused on an urban lake that suffered from sedimentation. He worked with the homeowners association around the lake to seal the lake bed and implement sediment control.

Fixing things is only part of Coulter's vision.

"Currently, there's nobody that really provides the conservationist model to developers. We're trying to pass on some construction practices to engineers and developers. Engineers are trained in a hard science, but we're trying to get them to think of engineering with a biological component. Hopefully we can provide some training to them in the process."

Coulter has worked with entities that range from small towns to large developers. Maybe it's not what you typically think of as conservation, but for the project, with its broad mission and broad geography, a broad approach to improving water quality seems to work best.